Age of Remnant
by Project Spekterz
Summary: A simple search and destroy mission sends Jax Pyralis crashing onto an unknown planet teeming with both light and darkness. Still wielding his own Light, the Hunter locates a nearby city under attack and helps turn a few events around in the Fall of Vale. However, he must still take into account that all actions have consequences...
1. The Wayward Hunter

**I do not own Destiny or RWBY. Both belong to their respective owners Bungie and Rooster Teeth.**

 **Let's get dangerous.**

* * *

Earth.

A planet just as those of its solar system which was the only that teemed with life: humans.

However, they would spread beyond the confines of their planet. Not long, scientists observed and discovered an object that would visit each planet in their system which underwent climate and environmental changes. Wanting to communicate with it, an expedition on Mars was set in order to see what it was.

After contact with the mysterious spherical entity, humanity named it the Traveler which changed everything.

Terraformation on other planets such as Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and even their moons allowed humanity to expand their civilization. Great cities were built on Mars and Venus, the Earth's Moon became a research colony, even Mercury became a garden world. Technological innovations advanced beyond belief, lifespan tripled, sweeping social changes present in their time.

Overall, it was a time of peace and prosperity deemed as the Golden Age.

Sadly, it did not last.

The Traveler's enemy, known as the Darkness, struck without warning and with much strength. Alien species overtook the humans and fought for new grounds. The four main species of this vagueness had found humanity and devastated many of its populations, cities, innovations, worlds; it did not matter.

Whatever was in alignment to the Traveler was lost and known only as the Collapse.

The end of everything.

However, it was the start of the Reclamation Age.

Driven back to Earth, the few that survived took refuge under The Traveler, which sacrificed much of its power to save what remained of humanity, united and built a city.

The Last City.

The final bastion of human civilization which remained in the solar system protected by the defensive aura by the Traveler.

But with the alien species seeking to break this defense, the Traveler in its dying stages created the Ghosts. These levitating, artificial-intelligent, star-like objects sought out corpses, revived, and reanimated them into warriors of light or light-bearers, to protect the remnants of humanity.

Otherwise known as the Guardians.

These specialized soldiers, as noted before, were grouped together to protect their final bastion and one day reclaim what humanity has lost. Split into three different classes are the Hunters, known for being deadly, unpredictable scouts and assailants, Warlocks, labeled 'warrior-scholars' driven by their curiosity and never-ending thirst to find the truth, and Titans, forged in strength and sacrifice to protect those who fall beneath their shadow, unite together against a common foe.

The history of their establishment is... interesting to say the least with different factions running about (however with few turning against the light and humanity).

For now, the focus was placed on the post-apocalyptic worlds where the Guardians now fight on multiple fronts against humanity's enemies to reclaim their lost treasures and hinder enemy lines to keep them breathing for another day along with letting them sleep peacefully through the nights.

However, a new fight for the Guardians would bring them to a near post-traumatic world just like theirs…

* * *

 _Unknown Forestral Location_

The forest was… tranquil to say the least.

At least it was calm until a huge object which looked like a ship crashed at the bottom of a cliff shattered the pace. The sounding boom which came was followed by curious growls and snarls in the area.

And those ominous sounds belonged to the creatures of the darkness that inhabited the forest. In full details, the setting was haunted and occupied by these shady animals who hunted for any source of negative feelings.

Grimm.

A different kind of darkness, but the darkness no less.

These creatures have obtained many names over the years they have inhabited along with humanity on this planet, yet were described to be quite destructive. A large contingent of the creatures pressed forward in hopes to feed off their new prey.

But what they would soon stumble was anything but prey.

* * *

 _Fire and screams._

 _There was nothing but fire, screams, while the creatures of the darkness were devouring their prey. Gunfire responded by chopping down their numbers, but rose back quickly as a rebuttal to saturate their hunger for fresh meat._

" _ **...Jax…"**_

 _A voice called out as the cloaked figure kept firing down on each creature that dared to stand in his way. He was not going to fail this mission. The young lightbearer was going to succeed no matter the cost and would dare not let these beasts overtake lest he join the others in death._

" _ **...Pyralis…!"**_

 _The voice came again, yet more louder and more urgent. The Hunter Guardian picked up the pace and destroyed all those were foolish to stand in his way. He sprinted down through the fired setting faster and faster as he was nearing the objective and about to reach it..._

" _ **BLACKWOOD, WAKE UP!"**_

The young, cloaked man inside his ship jolted up suddenly, now becoming fully alert. "Wh-what?" He started to look around. "Are we under attack?!" It took the figure known as Blackwood to realize he was strapped into his ship. "Oh, right." He gripped his head as it felt like a melon that would explode any second and groaned. "Agh, man. Did Shaxx punch me in the head?"

" _ **Not even close. It's far worse than you think."**_ The voice in his head replied back.

A floating object flashed beside his head and faced him which proved the originality of the response. "Thank goodness, you're alright." It turned and started to float around the small, confined environment. "The crash placed your vitals in critical condition. Thank goodness your Light was strong enough to fix it. Not many Guardians are known to even survive accidents like this and tell the tale."

Under his helmet and after a quick sigh of exhaustion, Jax raised an eyebrow. "Ugh… how would you know that?"

"Because some crashes would incinerate both Guardian and Ghost." The star-like object replied.

A moment of silence passed them both, until the live Guardian broke it. "...Okay. Don't know how that's possible, but I've seen and heard worse."

It was true. Jax 'Pyralis' Blackwood had been through a lot. When the Traveler died, he was one of the chosen many to fight for humanity's survival at nearly any cost every passing day which brought new, more powerful cosmic horrors to face clawing for the Light's extinction. Time and time again, he would be there to show that, despite their losses, the Guardians were no pushovers. He would be present to defeat threats from the Black Garden's Heart, Crota the Son of Oryx, Skolas, Oryx, The Taken King, and finally, Aksis the Archon Prime.

His feats may be well-accomplished, but it all came at a cost.

Fireteam after fireteam, friend after friend, and comrade after comrade were lost to the darkness as their Light would be extinguished. The servants of the Darkness were unmerciful to anything that wasn't them, especially the Light. Still, they learned the hard way that the Light would not just shine bright, but vaporize every single speck of the Darkness it would dare touch.

Needless to say, Jax was just one of the lights that helped avenged lost comrades along with his other fireteam members Ki'lera Lojir, and Jethor-4, who were still alive and probably worrying about him at that moment.

"True." His Ghost, Jiro, agreed with him. He too had witnessed all the deaths and grievances that day. The Ghost was bearing his Pursuer Shell. "But enough expositions, we should talk on our... current situation."

Jax sighed. Of course, there was always bad news. He might as well get it over with. "Alright, what's the bad news?"

"The warp drive incident by the Cabal ported us to an unknown world." Jiro started. "While you were unconscious, I've been trying to re-establish contact with the Vanguard. Needless to say, no one has answered within the last seven hours even when I set up the distress beacon up afterwards immediately." The Ghost would look dejected if he could. "Worse still, wherever we're at, it's unknown to any database the Vanguard has."

The Hunter made a concerned look under his helmet. "Even the files from the Ishtar Sink Academy?"

The Ghost nodded itself. "Even those. Wherever we are, we're way outside the Solar System."

A solemn moment passed. Stranded outside the Solar System? Well, it could always be worse. After all, there many situations where enemies would have him outmanned and outgunned.

It was something he was used to. After all, Guardians were known to run solo missions by themselves.

"Hm… what's the good news?" Jax replied.

"The good news is, if I'm reading my scans correctly, there are other lifeforms around this planet; more importantly, a _live_ civilization."

That was surprising to say the least. Humans on another planet? Last time he checked, Jax was sure there were no other survivors of the Collapse except for those who built and/or journeyed to the Last City on Earth. Unless the Ishtar Academy had not been able to track humans this far out in the galaxy?

To be fair, the Hunter and Ghost were stranded outside the solar system and it was only a possibility.

"But, I've got more bad news."

More bad news? Well, the heartwarming feeling was good while it lasted, the Hunter bemused to himself.

"Tell me once I stretch my legs for a bit." Jax said, already feeling cramped and wanting to take care of whatever the problem was in the first place. Even though it might've seem practical, but Cayde's suggestion on 'shooting everything' was the solution to almost everything the Guardians have encountered so far.

"Right. Let's get out of here." Jiro nodded his head and disappeared into invisibility. " **Just pull the lever on the left side of the ship and I'll fulfill on what I've intercepted."**

Jax did so, and as a result a small hatched opened above him. He used all the strength he recovered and pull himself out, revealing the outside world of his Ornamented Days of Iron Armor, except for his helmet which was his Achlyophage Symbiote that granted an additional shot for his currently equipped Gunslinger class.

Even though he had the choice of switching to Bladedancer and Nightstalker, Jax missed the old days where he would use his Golden Gun to mow down enemies in one or two shots.

And now, his prowess would be on full display to show that even powerful entities should fear the Guardians.

When he jumped off his ship, Jiro equipped Jax with his Lingering Song in hand, mag-locked his But Not Forgotten void Sniper Rifle, and his Young Wolf's Howl, a personal solar sword given to him by Saladin Forge after successfully stopping the production of SIVA the Splicers were currently using against their enemies, on his right side in case the situation called for it.

One would wonder who would need this much firepower and ammo or even have the capacity to carry it. For the Guardians, it would be for one out in the dangerous wilds and would easily handle it no problem at all.

As Jax left the area, a certain group of dark creatures emerged from a good distance behind him with malevolent growls along with snarls and stalked their 'prey' in the shadows.

* * *

 _City of Vale_

Chaos and pandemonium.

It was that and nothing more.

The entire city was under attack by Grimm and the White Fang who were offloading the creatures into the city. Friendly Atlesian robots suddenly turned against their allies and turned their objectives to mow them down as a result of the virus. Battlemech robots being piloted by the White Fang, which originally belonged to the latter company, were now being used against their allies in a bid to defeat all those who stood in their way for new world order.

This didn't faze the Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training and those who were teachers among them in the slightest as they bravely fought back their opponents who were trying their best to destroy them but with limited success.

In the midst of the battle, Glynda Goodwitch and Qrow Branwen joined by Cardin Winchester fought off both Grimm and Atlesian-Knights, which suddenly turned hostile, along with General Ironwood as the group dealt with the contingent of enemies.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Huntsmen stood as tall as they defended Beacon from multiple White Fang and Grimm breaches throughout the academy.

As Ruby Rose was navigating her way through the battle, she fired her way through Grimm, hostile AK's, and White Fang that stood in her way and was able to land on the airship and promptly exit out her locker that she launched to get on board. According to General Ironwood, veteran criminal Roman Torchwick and his partner Neo had hijacked creating complications for the battle. Why the criminal duo would take away such significant firepower that could be used against their enemies to back this losing battle was beyond her the silver-eyed Huntress.

But there was no way she would let such a notion slide on by while people were dying in the streets of Vale as the ongoing fires were rapidly spreading along with gunfire and melee weapon clashing ensued in the metropolis.

Her attention was soon caught when a Gryphon, followed by a smaller flock, landed on the aircraft and released loud shriek at the girl.

In response, Ruby twirled her Crescent Rose with a determined expression before charging at the dark creatures.

* * *

 _Vale Wilderness, Three Klicks from the City_

As the Hunter was walking through the forest, he was taking a look around the enclosed space. It was… peaceful. But as he was getting closer, his helmet started to get pings of enemies in the distance from time to time. His Hunter instincts telling him that whatever it was that was following him he was gonna meet more of their kin right after the first.

He kept his guard up just as his Ghost was giving him the information that he had intercepted not too long ago.

" _ **While trying to send out the distress signal to the Vanguard, I picked up a transmission soon after. Sadly, it's not from them exactly. In fact, it came from the city not too far out. However, it's laced with a lot of static."**_ Jiro explained. " _ **Here's what I have so far."**_

The transmission played in the Hunter's helmet.

" _Si-bzzzzt-overrun-bzzzt-mm have brea-bzzzt- White Fa-bazzt offloa-bzzzt-robots have tur-bzzzt-the airship-bzzzt-situation-bzzzzt-..."_

The Hunter tilted his head in curiosity. "What kind of transmission was that?"

" _ **Not sure. I can only assume that it's some kind of automated distress signal."**_ As if he could hear the Hunter's mind crossing many thoughts (which he could), Jiro responded. " _ **I wouldn't get your hopes too high. After all, this could be like the time we tried to rescue Praedyth."**_

The Hunter frowned under his helmet. It was sorrowful that the Guardian was long dead before he could even get to him. Still, the Guardian remained optimistic that this time there would be rescuing. "Well, let's still hope for the best that we're able to rescue somebody this time."

As the waypoint was set up, he began to go on a full on sprint to his objective. It was a long way from here, but he couldn't set up his sparrow as the area was thick to navigate through. He'd have to leg it to his objective as always.

Jax was now casually walking through the forest as Jiro was almost done clearing up the signal laced with static. The forest was a bit tranquil, but the gnawing feeling the Hunter felt was getting stronger. He knew for sure that he was being watched and followed by someone.

Or something in this case.

No matter. A Hunter's instincts were sharper than his or her own small blade they would carry with them. There was little chance one could possibly sneak up on someone his class even if they had cloaking technology.

That and there were also these things called 'motion sensors' installed in his helmet.

The area was becoming a bit more clear, he spotted of what appeared to be some kind of metal humanoid with small sparks erupting every few seconds.

Jiro updated at the sight of this… object that was laying on the ground. " _ **There. That's the source of the distress signal."**_

Jax looked at the object in confusion had his Ghost examine the human-sized metal toy. "So what is it, some kind of Vex prototype?"

After performing a few scans, Jiro turned back to him and shook itself. "No. It's definitely not Vex for sure. There aren't any hints of organic readings or traces to any of the hiveminds I've analyzed so far. The only thing I've been able to get are descriptions and names on this planet's enemies. Codenames are 'Grimm' and 'White Fang'." He paused for a moment before continuing. "As much as hate to admit this, there is little I could possibly compare to right-"

A sudden growl tore through and disrupted the atmosphere, making the Ghost disappear in invisibility for safety, while Jax turned to the source of the noise pointing his primary at the bushes. The origin of the sound stepped out from its hiding spot and revealed itself to the lone Hunter.

"What the…?" Jax looked on in perplexity at seeing the beast.

It was nothing the Guardian had seen before. The creature was hunched over on all fours like a werewolf, possessed black fur, spikes formed out of its shoulder-legs, claws, spike-like spines on its back, a bone-mask on its face with red-orange eyes gazing at him with malevolent intent.

A terrifying sight for anyone who had not encountered such a being before.

For Guardian of his standards, it was just another small wisp of the Darkness that required extermination.

After letting out a roaring howl that would be heard throughout the area, the creature leaped toward the Hunter in hopes to feed off its prey. Still, its hopes were shattered instantly when Jax planted only one round into its head and the creature succumbed to death in an instant.

When his helmet read that the creature's vitals were gone, the curious Hunter stepped forward and looked down upon the creature as black wisps were starting to emanate off of it.

" _ **It's remains are disappearing. Let me commence a quick scan before they're completely gone."**_ Jiro suggested. The Hunter conformed, and the Ghost gathered whatever intel he could on this… endeavor.

"What in Traveler is that thing?" The Hunter questioned as soon as Jiro completed his examinations.

Jiro flashed back to him in invisibility. " _ **I… have no idea. Whatever this thing is, it did correspond to the description of that robot had in its memory banks. Grimm. According to the information I was able to get out of it along with my scans, there's no lifesource in that thing whatsoever. Not even a heartbeat. Almost as if it's made of pure Darkness. More species of these creatures exist and seem to get smarter the older they live and thrive for."**_

"Hm… either way, humanity's just made a new friend they can visit to settle down with." Jax snarked a bit.

" _ **In a sense, I guess you could say that."**_ Jiro agreed, before updating. " _ **Heads up, I'm detecting multiple instances of movement all around us. "**_

A few seconds later, about twenty of the same creatures presented themselves in shadows before revealing themselves to the Hunter, except some took the shape of boars and were heavily armored but extremely susceptible on its underbelly according to Jiro's quick scans on the other species of the beasts.

" _ **Hm… its friends are finally here and wanted to pay a visit."**_ Jiro responded at the growling creatures. " _ **Let's give them a proper welcome."**_

Jax smiled under his helmet before replying through the psychic link. " _With pleasure."_

The stygian beasts quickly launched themselves at the cloaked, young man, yet the Hunter was too fast for them. In a flash, he drew his weapon and fired four precise shots rapidly into the creatures' skulls.

Jax then dodged a claw swipe from the left that had every right to slice him to submission. He retaliated by firing two shots at the creature before it dropped dead. As some of the remaining creatures closed distance at him, the Hunter threw two of his Throwing Knifes at two of them before they too joined their kin in death as the solar burn took effect on them. The third one, a boar, lunged at the Guardian to feed off of him, but the Hunter took advantage of this move and slid under the creature firing his last bullet in the magazine which damaged the creature before finishing it off with a quick melee attack.

The remaining 13 beasts realized that this was no ordinary warrior, but pressed on anyway as five tried to to run at the Hunter forward. Jax quickly threw down a trip mine on top of one of them in the middle which took out the group instantly and placed a new cylinder into his Lingering Song. The last 8 then strategized and aimed to surround their prey.

Clever. However, the Hunter was more unpredictable than they thought.

At the same time, the creatures jumped from all directions also converged into the middle. The Hunter used his jump packs to avoid the claws of the eager creatures and fell down some feet away from them before using his most powerful gun of all which was tainted in Solar Light. He quickly disposed of the group in all four shots as the explosions took their toll on the Grimm which vaporized them out of existence.

The Hunter then equipped his Hand Cannon back in hand which he held to the side for a moment before Jiro warned him. " _ **Almost all of all them. One's coming in at your right side… and this one's not to mess around with."**_

" _Neither are we."_ Jax thought back.

He quickly swapped his primary out and handled his But Not Forgotten Sniper Rifle. When the last one emerged, it resembled the boar, but this was bearing even more armor and was bigger compared to the ones the Gunslinger just faced. Jax aimed and punched an armor-piercing round into the boar's skull. The creature snarled in pain and pressed on, but the second bullet shattered its mask making it go ballistic. The moonless beast's misery was finally ended when Jax fired one last shot into the Grimm's body as it collapsed into a messy heap and its remains disappeared into the air like the rest of its species.

"That's the last of them… for the moment anyway." Jiro said after he appeared next to Jax.

Jax stretched for a small amount of time before commenting. "Well, that was nice warmup. Would've appreciated a bit more action." He then turned serious and to his Ghost. "So, about that transmission..."

"Ah, yes. While you were fighting off the Grimm, I've been able to clean up most of the static. It's patchy, but clear enough to understand… and assuming whatever the situation is, it's bad."

"How bad?" Jax tilted his head.

"Just…. take a listen…" Jiro then played the Transmission.

" _...Sir, this is Atlesian Squad Delta-Zulu! We're being overrun at the gates! Grimm have breached the city gates and the White Fang are offloading them into the city! Many of our robots have turned against us by an unknown source, the airship is now in control of the enemy, and they're firing down on friendly forces! The situation is going critical! Requesting immediate assistance! I repeat we need backup right n- ON YOUR FEET WILSON! GET FIRE ON THAT SQUAD!"_

" _There's too many of them Praxon! We can't hold them off!"_

" _Just hold 'em off! Hold this position! Hold this positio-bzt..."_

The transmission ended abruptly with the signal cut out at the end.

The Hunter stood quietly for a moment before he questioned. "Where did this come from?"

"Give me a moment. I'll have to trace it from its original central network." The Ghost paused before answering. "If I'm reading these coordinates correctly, it's a few klicks North from our current position." Jiro answered. "It's coming from a heavy populated area… which according to the surveillance I've now currently hacked through, is now under attack."

Jax clenched his left fist. Great. It hadn't even been five minutes and potential survivors of the Golden Age were dying already. On the bright side, the people were able to hold out this long without the Guardians' assistance it seems, but that didn't matter at the moment. It was only a short amount of time before these people would succumb to the forces of the Darkness and be overtaken per se. However, the Hunter's presence on this planet could have unforeseen consequences that might bring more of the Guardians' enemies to this planet and devastate all within. Would it be better if he stayed and help turn the tide on the attack? Or worse if the Fallen, Hive, Cabal, or Vex somehow found out he was alive and used these humans for bait to draw him out?

After a few short moments, the Hunter looked back to where his ship presumably crashed before he made his final decision.

The Gunslinger responded before his Ghost could. "Jiro, prep all of the ammo synthesis you can. We're gonna need plenty of it."

Jiro knew that tone of voice. His Guardian was already going to pick a new fight with this planet's enemies and they had little information except for the fact that bullets could stop them very easily. It seemed like a hasty move.

Still, the Hunter was not to be trifled with as he was among the top Vanguard Elite Specialists and had the feats to prove it. Along with that, innocent people in the city were dying every passing second so time was not on their side. A Guardian's duties were in alignment with the Vanguard, but their oaths belonged to protecting humanity as well.

Besides, what could they do? Send a letter that said, 'Please stop attacking. It's causing some upset'?

The Ghost complied and nodded himself before going back to invisibility. The Gunslinger then was seated into his sparrow before taking off like rocket through the forest navigating through its narrow pathways.

Whether he wanted it or not, Jax, and possibly the other Guardians, would inevitably step into war with this planet's enemies.

There would be no turning back.

* * *

 _City of Vale, Outer Limits_

As the Hunter was getting closer to his destination, he began notice large clouds of smoke were plaguing in the sky. He jumped off his sparrow and got too good of gorning sight that was developing in front of him. There were screams, fires among buildings, and multiple instances of explosions and gunfire happening all throughout.

" _Wow… you weren't kidding when you said the city was under attack."_ Jax commented in the link at the scene unfolding.

" _ **Well, what did you expect? Some kind of tea party?"**_ Jiro replied back.

" _Point taken."_

The Hunter slipped a new cylinder into his mag before he rushed forward.

Jax jumped down from the hills and sprinted through the city gates. It felt as though he was in the middle of an attack in the Collapse with many people dying, but on a much smaller scale.

He fired two shots of his Lingering Song at the first Grimm he caught sight of that was about to feast on a civilian. At the first impact, it lunged forward, then dropped dead at the second jab.

The other Grimm took notice of this, yet didn't get the chance to fully face the Hunter when he took them down with two more individual precise shots total.

He turned to the left and faced another group that was already emerging from the broken fences of homes near the outer limits. Jax threw a trip mine grenade that was able to land on one of the four beasts. The ensuing explosion took three of them out while fourth one was struggling to gain its sense back. The Beowolf was finished off with one heavy shot.

More of the Grimm were heading to his location fast, but were far away. Jax quickly switched to his But Not Forgotten and fired a precise another beast in the middle of a pack of five as he kept moving forward. The firefly effect took its toll as the explosion shook the beasts up. The Hunter let loose another shot into the second of the pack's head causing another small eruption. The next detonation took out the third of the group.

Seeing that the Hunter was too good, the last two retreated and got out of sight before Jax could get a lock on them. Presumably, to regroup in larger numbers.

Taking the chance, Jax reloaded and sprinted forward, firing and exterminating more the beasts attacking citizens and what it appeared to be other holding custom weapons that he had never seen before. As he kept sweeping through the area, some looked at the lightbearer in awe before realizing the battle was still in the making.

According to Jiro, Grimm activity was growing the heaviest downtown so that was where Jax was heading to cut down their numbers.

As he got further into the city, the amount of beasts were growing abundant crawling and spewing from all different places. He placed two bullets into a Grimm's body before turning toward another and assaulted the next.

Only after two kills, a large group noticed the Hunter was the biggest threat at the moment emanating growls and snarls of hate. One of them released a howl as the others began running at the Gunslinger. Jax released his Super and triggered his solar weapon that took only one shot to take two of the beasts lives thanks to the Keyhole perk. Not only that but the explosions also claimed several more of the Grimm. He fired another shot at the pack, his Golden Gun taking a toll of them. The large group was already cleared, but more pings sprang up on his radar another moment later.

The Beowolf's howl not only attracted another pack, but it seemed an entire waves of the Grimm came at the Hunter just to end his life. It would take more than large contingents of these smaller animals to even so much as lay a claw on him.

Besides that, there was also the factor that he, among other Guardians, was immortal thanks to his Ghost.

After releasing the last two shots of his Super, the Guardian turned back to his Hand Cannon that was declaring death on each target it was pointed to every time it spoke. In the span of three minutes, he was able to clear the enormous wave that attacked him.

From afar, he saw a blonde woman with a riding crop using powers to repel the beasts along with a three other men with a mace, scythe, and revolver along with androids. Their teamwork seemed efficient to say the least. As they were spreading out, Jax noticed a similar creature with wings that was about to get the drop on one of the men.

" _ **Better do something, Jax! That creature has the jump on that man!"**_ Jiro hastily.

Without a moment's hesitation, the Hunter switched to his sniper, reloaded a new mag, and aimed at the beast that began to land on top of the man.

* * *

To say Vale was in deep trouble was quite an understatement.

Various species of Grimm had breached many parts of the city due to the panic of public and things had escalated into complete chaos in the city. Building were on fire, streets teeming with these creatures, and even the White Fang were taking advantage of this by attacking government buildings together with releasing these creatures against the populace.

General Ironwood couldn't even imagine the amount of trouble he was going to deal with after the attack, but that wasn't even the least of worries as he was dispatching a large group of the Atlesian androids that suddenly turned against its allies and were firing at them. He easily dealt with the large group of AK-200s but not before a Griffon caught him off guard from above and threatened to finish him off by landing on top of him.

Qrow Branwen caught of this and was about to give the beast a taste of his medicine, but was stopped when a loud crack tore through the air and a patch of purple was seen for a second. The Griffon stumbled of the general and snarled in pain as it was trying to gain its senses back to locate the source of pain. A second shot whizzed above the veteran Huntsman and ended the beast's spree.

Ironwood recovered. "Thank you, Qrow."

Said Huntsman turned his head to the general in confusion. "Uh… that wasn't me."

The general raised an eyebrow in confusion and went back to attacking more of the Grimm just as Qrow was able to get a look at their savior. He narrowed his eyes at the figure from afar whose armor and cape was tainted with wolf sigils except on his helmet. The man seemingly took notice of this and waved back him. Qrow released a 'hm' before a loud roar caught the group's attention.

From above, a Grimm dragon was flying high in the sky and was currently heading to Beacon Tower where his niece, Ruby Rose, was sure to be after the ship crashed.

Qrow turned back one last time to where the general's savior was only to be met with an empty space where the caped man once stood. He frowned seeing his chance for to thank, but mostly question him was gone for now at least.

Still, the veteran Huntsman had a feeling he'd seeing the mysterious figure again.

* * *

Jax was sprinting through the streets of the city with a purpose. Seconds after he took off, the roar of some kind of monstrous dragon had caught him and his Ghost's attention and landed on top of a tower in the city. Needless to say, it was a huge problem that needed to be taken care of knowing the full consequences should he fail to stop the beast.

Without being told or hinted, the Gunslinger was already moving to his new objective.

" _ **Just so we're clear..."**_ Jiro started to voice his thoughts, " _ **...this would be the part where I would scold and/or tell you that what we're about to do is more than insane… but I've gotten used it by now."**_

On his way to the tower, Pyralis gunned more of the Grimm creatures that either stood in his way or were about to be chewed up by civilians. Eventually, he made it to the entrance of tower and took one last gaze once more at the dragon up top the tower and could barely see two people who going at it.

Seeing that one of the women seemed to be controlling the monster, the Hunter breached into the building and checked all corners within two seconds. It was already ruined with tables, chairs, and desks that were flipped over, along with some of the consoles offline.

Even worse, the console to the elevator was sparking.

Jax quickly had Jiro check up on the console on the side. "How bad is it?"

Jiro turned back to him. "No good. The elevator's messed up. I can attempt to make repairs which might take a couple minutes-" A roar and earthquake shook the building interrupting the Ghost.

"It'll take too long. We'll have to improvise." Jax replied in a hurry. He ran back outside with his Ghost joining him before flashing back. There were openings throughout the tower along with broken structures that were sticking out that laid out like platforms.

It was perfect.

" _ **Guh… you're not seriously thinking of-"**_ Jax cut Jiro off by jumping onto the laid off platforms, using his jumping pads to get footholds on top of it. " _ **Yup, you were thinking it."**_

Jax ignored the obvious comment and climbed onto a platform that was not too far from it. He was able to get sight of the two fighters, but one of them, who had red hair and wore gold and brown armor, was pinned down by the woman in the red dress who was smiling deviously and speaking to her.

The speech was faint, however the arrow pointing at the girl ceased all notion of mercy and reason in Jax's mind (not that he was going to do any anyway).

" _ **Once again, another person to rescue. You know what to do."**_ Jiro confirmed that notion.

Jax prepared his jumping pads once more and flared his Golden Gun at the same time as he approached the two women at an alarming pace.

* * *

"Ugh!"

Pyrrha Nikos had been pinned down by by her newest foe Cinder Fall.

She was about to be the new candidate for the Fall Maiden, by an arrow into Amber's heart by Cinder said otherwise and had unknowingly stepped into a battle that she had no chance of winning.

She regretted every mistake she's made up to this point, but at least she had the chance to be at peace.

"It's unfortunate that you were promised a power that was never truly yours." Cinder taunted, circling her new victim. "But take comfort knowing that _I_ will use it in ways you could never imagined."

Pyrrha pulls away and gives back a defying stare. "Do you believe in destiny?"

Cinder seemed surprised at her words for second, but frowned and pulled back the arrow. "Yes."

However before anything could be done, a solar beam landed itself on Cinder's back which made her miss the shot by mere inches. Before the new Fall Maiden could turn around, another shot forced her forward into the wall.

Pyrrha got a good look at her savior and had a look of shock and awe. The figure was armored with wolf sigil on fire on the inside, while his helmet seemed to be pulsing with some kind of molten power on the inside. His body was covered in an aura of fire it seemed.

Much the young man's surprise, the shots didn't annihilate Cinder as much as he hoped for (little to Pyrrha's mind).

No matter.

Without hesitation, the young man turned to her and was working to unpin Pyrrha from her trap with one hand, the other still holding his weapon.

"Hang on. I'll get you out of there." Her savior spoke, much to her surprise for the unexpected help.

An irritated growl got both of their attention, which belonged to Cinder, her eyes teeming with fire… literally. She glared at the man who had interfered with her ongoing battle with Pyrrha and sent a fireball at both of them.

Pyrrha braced for impact once again by closing her eyes, but the lightbearer forced another shot at the fireball which not only made it explode, but penetrated through which knocked Cinder off of the tower.

He fired his last shot at the dragon who also stared in amazement, blinding the creature since he aimed at one of their eyes providing more time.

The caped figure was able to get Pyrrha out of her trap and freed her. She looked at her ankle for a moment before she looked at him with a sincere smile. "Thank you."

The figure nodded back. "You're welcome."

Before anything else could said or done, the lightbearer turned back to the dragon who was about to focus its efforts back at the fighters and sprinted quickly at the creature, much to Pyrrha's surprise. He tackled into it's neck and took the creature off of the tower into the other rooftops below; the sound of a pained roar tearing throughout the night sky.

She stared off with wide eyes. An amazing turn of events of display of power in the span of a minute.

"Pyrrha!"

A familiar voice caught Pyrrha's attention turned to see one of her friends on the rooftop wielding her scythe.

"Ruby!" Both had embraced each other warmly before the silver-eyed girl had a sad, but innocent twinkle in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" She questioned with concerned.

Pyrrha looked down at her ankle that still had a wound. "I'm fine."

"What's going on?" Ruby asked in a hurry. "Jaune called me in a panic saying that you were about to fight some woman with a fire semblance."

Pyrrha fought a blush. Of course, Jaune would be concerned for her. After all, they did have a mutual relationship with another. "Well…"

Another roar of pain tore through the air and both girls ran toward the edge of the tower to see the caped figure hanging onto the Grimm with all his might as his sword stabbed into its neck as the creature laced about.

With a determined look, Ruby clenched her scythe. "I'll go help him! Just get to safety!" In rush of wind and rose petals, she launched herself toward the Grimm beast and the caped fighter.

Pyrrha looked on for a moment before she shook herself out of her stupor and called for a rocket locker to pick her up.

* * *

" _ **I take back my previous statements! This is your most deranged move yet!"**_

"W _hat else is new?!"_

Jax had been able to get the creature off the tower and was grasping with all his strength as the dragon tried to shake him off. He was an experienced warrior of light at heart, but that didn't excuse him from executing a reckless move.

As he was hanging onto the dragon, a locker (that's right; a locker) flew by and barely missed him as he was implementing a new strategy. He could've known for sure he heard an 'I'm sorry!' coming from said locker. Noticing that the dragon was threatening to spew out fire, Jax climbed directly into the beast's head and steered it into the tower from which he stood.

The shock forced the Hunter back on top of the tower and rolled him for a few feet. He held his head as he was doing his best to stand back up again. As soon as the feeling of a melon exploding inside his skull disappeared, the Gunslinger took another look at his surroundings. The rooftop was ruined, but the red haired girl he saved was no longer in sight.

At least there was some more good news so far, assuming the girl had been able to get away from the chaos.

The tranquil moment was ruined when the dragon climbed back on top of the tower and roared at the Hunter. Jax fired rounds toward the beast at a rapid (by Hand Cannon) pace, but the rounds only caused it to flinch slightly and angered the dragon even more. It retaliated with a claw swipe that threw Jax to the side and disoriented him. The monster prepared to finish him with another spew of fire that was charging up from its mouth, but was stopped when Jax was able to reload quickly and shot a round into its mouth causing an explosion to ensue.

The explosion knocked back the dragon and bought the Hunter time to counterattack. He quickly switched to his But Not Forgotten Rifle and fired piercing rounds into the beast's mouth, causing it to choke on its own blood. Jax switched to his sword as he ran toward the dragon and emitted Howling Flames and rapid slashes at the monster. The fire and attacks forced the beast back as its mask was shattered and snarled in pain. The creature swiped its claws in complete rage as Jax was barely dodging each of them, coming close to death each time.

Seeing that hand attacks weren't gonna work, the dragon swiped its tail at the Hunter, who tried to jump up to avoid it, but was caught in the attack radius. The impact knocked Jax back again and caused him to slide into the side wall. The dragon then growled as the Hunter was trying to recover who was grasping onto his sword, but then the sound of gunfire silenced both of them.

A barrage of bullets were shot into the dragon's eye causing it to roar in pain. A long blade was cut into the creature's neck before it find the origin by a sheer amount of speed by a red blur.

The blur revealed to be a girl with dark red hair and silver eyes, wearing a cape along with black and red clothing that included a skirt. She twirled her weapon knowing she already won and turned back to Jax as he was fully recovering.

To the Hunter's surprise, the girl was… well… fangirling. "That... was... awesome! You were so cool when you wrestled the dragon and slashed it all about! Which continent are you from?! Are you a huntsman?! I'd love your weapons- err- I mean you're armor's cool-err- you were so awesome! Where can I learn skills like that?! I'd like to-"

As she was ranting her soul off, Jax noticed the woman in the dark red dress climbing back up with an angry look on her face and aimed her bow at the girl talking. He noticed this and quickly pushed her out of the way as the arrow penetrated the Hunter's armor and stabbed him into his chest. The woman smirked in victory as she hit her mark. However, Jax frowned and looked down at his new wound.

He was fine, by the way. The Hunter was just _way_ more annoyed than hurt.

The girl turned back and noticed this with shock written all over her face. "No." She muttered to herself. Before anyone could react, she screamed. " **NOOOOO!** " Not only that, but white light was pouring at of her eyes much to both fighters' surprise and awe.

"WHAT?!" The woman screamed in complete disbelief.

"Huh?!" Jax released as well as the light engulfed the area.

" _ **By Traveler...!"**_ Jiro piped in amazement.

The Hunter covered his helmet and closed his eyes as he heard painful screaming for what seemed like years until the light finally died down.

His vision came back for a few seconds as he grasped his helmet for what it seemed as if it was the millionth time. The Gunslinger noticed that the girl who somehow unleashed the light within herself was lying unconscious on the ground, while the woman was trying to regain her senses.

Wasting no time, Jax grabbed onto the arrow in his chest and used his remaining strength to pull it out. It was painful for sure, but the discomfort was _**nothing**_ compared to the torment of failure that Crucible exercises had emphasized in each of the Guardians' daily training and everyday combat against alien monsters which sought to destroy humanity each passing day.

At last, he was able to remove the arrow from his chest and toss it aside. Thanks to his own Light, his wound was already being treated and armor's shields were regenerating. He pushed himself forward and struggled a little to stand back up again. Jax clasped his sword once again and started walking up the woman as she was coming to with one of her eyes severely burned.

"So… I presume that you're the one who caused all this destruction and chaos, huh?" The woman snapped up at hearing his voice.

Jax casually swung his sword a bit as the woman's confidence seen earlier was now gone. "I'll take that as yes." She then started to back up helplessly with an expression of shock and fear.

He smiled deviously under his helmet. "Aw, what's the matter? You looked like you've seen a ghost." He paused for a moment. "Good. Because there are things are out there that you wouldn't believe or imagine. I'm one of them."

The woman tried to give a glare back and speak, but nothing came out. "What's the matter? Cat your tongue? It's okay. You don't need to respond… I'll give you a live demonstration."

In a flash, Jax was already over the woman and assaulted her with slashes across her weakened state and couldn't muster the strength to fight back. She tried sending a fireball his way, but the Hunter drew his Lingering Song and the attack bursted in mid-air while still holding his sword in the other hand. The Hunter continued his assault as the woman summoned crystal swords to counter-attack but her opponent's attacks were faster and more efficient. He was able to slash her in her stomach at which she recoiled in pain. He punched her in the face in a second causing her to be knocked back onto the floor a few feet away as she backed away in fear.

"You should know that are places for monsters like you who dare to kill innocents for the fun of it." He started casually talking to her and stood over. "But let me tell you something else that you already know." He crouched down to her level as she now adorned an expression of complete terror. "Fear is not just a feeling perceived as a danger… it's a weapon we all use to unsettle our enemies." His whisper caused a shiver to go up his foe's spine. He swiftly kicked her in the face and stepped unto her as horror was still being stricken unto her face. "And there's a reason why you should fear the Guardians." Some confusion was crossed, but that didn't matter. Jax raised his sword to end this monster's life, but was stopped was a gunshot to his back forced his forward.

He turned back to see some girl with tri-colored hair with a cross between angry and concerned. Jax turned with a glare under his helmet at her. "Big mistake."

He drew his primary and fired at her, the force stifling her back. The Gunslinger rushed and sliced the girl, completely ignoring his instincts and motion sensor, only to find the remnants of glass remaining. He turned back to see the girl had somehow went through his guard and already was getting away with the woman he had faced.

" _ **Well… that was interesting."**_ Jiro commented.

The Hunter glared out in the distance and stood forward. He ran, jumped down from the tower, and landed on another rooftop below and caught sight of them. Both targets were too far away for him to even use his special weapon just as an airship was approaching the present evac site and was aiming light on the rooftop he had just got off of.

Whoever he had just faced were fortunate enough to get away this time, but the Hunter was resigned. He was sure he'd see that woman along with her lackey(s) again for future confrontations.

As smoke continue to linger the air, the Hunter released one final statement.

"There'll be another time."

 **Author's Note: Hey guys. I've been wanting to write this story for a long time since it's been on my mind. So let's get down to the basics: for one thing our main character is a Hunter class Guardian, he is a gunslinger (for now, the other subclasses will be switched around and used in the story), Pyrrha has been saved from her death (unfortunate in the actual show BTW spoilers), and Ruby has still managed to use her powers that come from her silver eyes.**

 **I've decided to start the story here during the Battle of Beacon and continue onward because I think it's appropriate since the Guardians are usually introduced to a new story/quest after the post-apocalyptic battleground has been set when they are deployed. I wanted to change that setting to where one Guardian is introduced into chaos of battle against the environment (which will probably be one of Destiny 2's starting missions with the invasion of the Red Legion I hope).**

 **Also, I've now made a correction to that little mistake a few people kept pointing out that Ruby was Qrow's daughter. I've changed it to where it says Ruby is Qrow's niece. Thank you for those pointing out that little mishap as I thought it said 'niece' instead of 'daughter'. Sincerest apologies, I did not notice it until I read it even more thoroughly.**

 **Please read and review and give me any pointers to make the story flow better.**


	2. Aftermath

**Disclaimers:** **RWBY - Rooster Teeth;** **Destiny - Bungie**

 **I tried to place arrows on them, but it wouldn't let me. I'm a little disappointed.**

 **However before we get started, I've wanted to state once again that I've fixed that mistake involving the relations of Qrow and Ruby (in other words, the first chapter saying that Ruby was Qrow's daughter instead of niece). The chapter has been updated and the story in general as I try to make sure there are next to no mistakes involving both grammar and lore. Thank you for those who have pointed out that mistake since I was not able to catch that earlier.**

 **As a side note, I had a chance to look at the gameplay reveal for Destiny 2 and the Vidocs along with it. The game is looking very good so far and has much potential to be another one of Bungie's greatest hits.**

 **Also to respond to a review, I am thinking about putting some of the RWBY canon characters as Guardians when they get their own Ghosts, but I have to see how RWBY Volume 5 (and others) will play out before I can approve that notion. I'm trying to stick with the canon events to RWBY and Destiny as closely as possible.**

 **That being said, let's get this show started once again.**

* * *

Four months.

Four _long_ months.

That was how much time that had passed after the Fall of Beacon.

The academy had been devastated by the ongoing Grimm breaches and White Fang attacks during the Vytal Festival. The Vale Continental Communications Tower had been destroyed as a result of this event. Evacuation efforts overseen by General Ironwood and few other teachers of Beacon had been successful and repairs were already being commenced. Along with that, veteran criminal Roman Torchwick had been reported dead during the conflict. However, footage of Atlesian robots turned against their allies were leaked to the public which showed the androids attacking innocent civilians creating worldwide skepticism against Atlas. The White Fang was also to blame for the attacks on the Vytal Festival as Adam Taurus, high ranking member of the insurgency, had been spotted on sight.

Overall, Remnant had severely damaged and was barely recovering.

Not only that, but there had also been numerous sightings of some warrior who had participated in the Fall of Beacon, who seemingly vanished without a trace, but was spotted by ongoing travelers and small settlements that were ambushed by the Grimm on their way to their proper locations only to be saved by the man who was thought to be dead from the battle earlier. No one could get a firm look on him, but caught wind of his green cape that blew in the winds and vanished without a trace.

The warrior had been nicknamed the 'Blazing Wolf' for his solar abilities and his sigils on his armor.

No one was sure who was this man or could identify him, but theories rose that he might have been an Atlas Specialist or a former member of the White Fang with a strong grudge. There was even a rumor that had spread that he might not even be from Remnant, but was wildly discarded.

Multiple interviews and investigations were executed on to who this man was, but little evidence had been found and no connections were discovered to this 'Blazing Wolf's' origins. Even the Atlesian military was baffled by this man's skills and abilities to match those of a veteran Huntsman or even better.

One thing for sure was that he was on the side of protecting innocent humans and faunus alike. No one would be able to even receive a glance of the truth at that moment.

At least, no one who lived among the civilizations.

* * *

 _Salem's Castle, Dark Realm_

It was business as usual at the Grimm Queen's castle and fortress of darkness.

The Grimm beasts were spawning below in the inky pools because of the world's fear and despair being a resource for the creatures to feed off of. The White Fang were off doing their own business around the planet assaulting governments and Huntsman academies throughout. Remnant was now starting to teeter on the verge of complete and total global catastrophe. Everything was almost set in place.

Almost.

There were still some things that needed to checked and done before the final stages.

However, their success so far wasn't on the forefront in each of members' minds sitting at the table along with two kids who were standing at the window and were watching these beings of darkness spawn from the ink pools below in shock and disgust. That was until a snap of the gloved fingers caught their attention which belonged to the woman that had faced this 'Guardian' at the tower and been bested by the girl with silver eyes.

She now had a patch over her scarred eye and her hair was cut shorter. Not only that, but there were three other men who were sitting at the table. One who was looking at his scroll, another who was actually a Scorpion Faunus (spoiler), and the last was relaxed, and seemed to be asleep.

The boy and girl both stopped and stood at the table behind the woman, but not without the green-haired female, known as Emerald Sustrai, nudging her friend Mercury Black off to the side so she could stand directly next to the woman in the dark dress and caretaker, Cinder Fall.

"Yes, yes, please keep your… posse in check." One of the men, Doctor Arthur Watts, taunted at one of Cinder's 'underlings'. Mercury glared and dared to make a move toward the man, but was held back by Emerald.

"You hear that? Silence." The other man, Hazel Rainart, returned an unamused glance to Watts who continued to taunt Cinder. "I've half a mind to thank the little girl that bested you." He paused for a moment before adding. "Not to mention, the man who almost impaled you."

The scorpion Faunus, Tyrian, smiled savagely. "If I were you, I'd hunt them down." He snickered and continued. "Find them and... well, the girl took your eye, didn't she?" He cackled to himself. "And not to mention the man who slashed there and about."

The scorpion Faunus made his laugh publicly as Cinder stared back. She tried to speak, but could only manage silent exhaling noises. Emerald leaned in close to get a better hearing of her statement.

"Pathetic. Why did you even-"

Watts was interrupted at the sound of the door at the side being opened. As they open, everyone else stood up as a pale figure with purple veins dressed in robes walked into the room. She kept going to her chair at the far end of the table. Silence teemed in the atmosphere until the Grimm Queen had reached her seat with her back still turned.

"Watts..." The doctor raised his eyebrows when his name was heard. "Do you find such malignance necessary?"

It was almost as if she heard the entire short duration of the exchange from outside the room since he was provoking Cinder for her 'failure' at Beacon. She gestured for the Inner Circle to have their seats, but Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black still stood in order to speak on behalf of Cinder as she lost her voice as a result of the powers by the girl in question.

And so did the doctor still stood as he apologized. "I apologize, ma'am. I'm not particularly fond of failure." He took his seat along with the Grimm Witch.

Salem responded patiently. "Then I see no reason for your cruelty towards young Cinder." She turned her head in acknowledgement to the young woman. "She's become our Fall Maiden, destroyed Beacon Tower, and most importantly… killed dear Ozpin."

She smiled at the accomplishment Cinder was able to accomplish then gave a serious look to Doctor Watts. "So, I'm curious. To what failures are you referring to?"

Doctors Watts had realized that she did have a point, but wasn't willing to concede just yet. "Well, the girl with the silver eyes..."

"Yes…" Hazel spoke up. "We've dealt with her kind before." He took a slight pause. "How was it that a novice was able to best one of us?"

"My thoughts exactly." Doctor Watts rose a hand up in agreement. "Even without her new power, it should have been effortless."

"It is because of the Maiden's power." Salem answered. Everyone turned to her in curiosity. "Make no mistake Cinder." The young woman turned her attention to her master. "You hold the key to our victory. But your newfound brings with it a crippling weakness. Not to mention, there is the factor of this… 'Guardian' running around that has powers that can could easily destroy whomever he targets... which is why you will remain by side as we continue your treatment."

The new Fall Maiden looked down at the table in response as Emerald looked at her in sympathy.

"Doctor Watts, you are to take Cinder's place and meet with our informant in Mistral." The Grimm Witch commanded.

"Very good." He nodded his head.

"Tyrian, I want you to continue your hunt for the Spring Maiden."

He chuckled and clapped maniacally in joy. "Gladly."

"And Hazel," She called out the quiet, muscular man with his arms crossed, "I'm sending you to the leader of the White Fang. Adam Taurus has arranged the meeting. The boy continues to prove loyal. Ensure that Sienna Khan feels the same."

Hazel nodded his head. "As you wish."

Cinder held up her finger gaining Emerald's attention and an 'oh' from her. She leaned in as the new Maiden was whispering almost inaudibly in the street rat's ear. Everyone turned to the pair in curiosity until Emerald stood up back up.

"Speak child." Salem gave permission for her to tell the Circle.

"She wants to know…" Emerald drifted her sight off to the side before regaining her posture. "...What about the girl and this 'Guardian'?"

"Pft. What about them? Seems to me like this is Cinder's problem, not ours." As usual, Doctor Watts scoffed and decided to provoke her once again. This caused said woman to slam a fist on the table in anger and glare at the man, who tauntingly smiled back.

"That's enough." Salem declared, narrowing her eyes. She was not going to let the key to victory be made fun of over and over again. "Need I remind you once again that this 'Guardian' could easily dispose _any_ of us without so much as batting an eye? You're a doctor, Arthur. I thought for sure you would take this into account. " The doctor looked down in shame… which actually got Cinder to smile. If she had her voice, she would provoke to time's end. "Still, this... Guardian, like the girl, are small irritants as of now since they seem to be ignorant of the full extent of this war. Which is why we must understand his power…" Salem then smiled malevolently. "...and destroy it along with him."

A wave of silence passed them.

"Tyrian." She got the scorpion Faunus' attention once again.

"Yes, my lady?" He smiled insanely and tilted his head.

"Spring can wait. Find the girl that crippled Cinder and this 'Guardian' that nearly subdued her…" The Grimm Queen ordered, which made him jump up a little and clapped in joy.

Until this next part. "...And bring them to me."

He sulked in disappointment as their would be no blood to be spilled, but Tyrian shrugged it off and smiled as he would get to combat and toy with his prey anyway.

"Because of your efforts, Beacon has fallen. And Haven will be next." Salem addressed the group as they stood up.

Tyrian chuckled once again, pointed to his eye, and said to Cinder. "Eye for an eye." He laughed once again. "And some wolf's pelt to go along with it too!" He continued to cackle insanely until he left along with everyone else out of the room and toward his post.

Salem smiled. Things were now adapted to her standards and would most likely run smoothly from here on out. Even if the girl and the 'wolf' had other teammates, they were but small bugs to her plans.

Her goals to take control of the Maidens' power and use them her purpose were within her grasp.

Remnant would soon belong to her.

* * *

 _Anima Forest_

The forest was oddly calm.

At least to Jax Pyralis who was taking a casual stroll around. He was a Hunter, a class of those who were masters of the frontier and the wildlands. They were natural born survivors thanks to the manipulation through the Traveler's powers. Some could say that they were animals waiting to turn on their fellow Guardians for prey.

Many would counter that their bravery has led to the lost technologies of the Golden Age.

As he was calmly walking through the forest, he was listening intently to the information that Jiro had stored in his data banks thanks to their travels.

Remnant, the planet they found out shortly which they were on, was divided into four kingdoms: Vacuo, Mistral, Atlas, and Vale. Each bordering their own unique cultures and technologies.

The dark creatures that had encountered were the Grimm, beings of Darkness possessing no life source at all. Because of this, research on them was strictly prohibited on all levels. It was even rumored that some tried to tame these beasts for their benefit, but was found impossible in doing so. Different species of these creatures existed and some had yet to be seen.

Another note was that this planet had its own warriors: Huntsman and Huntresses. Combat schools and academies were built and forged so that each new generation would uphold the peace and safeguard the planet's future. These warriors had powers, health, and energy count called Semblances and Aura. The people sounded just like the Guardians using their powers of Light given by the Traveler to keep the solar system running time and time again. The fighters were Remnant's main (and possibly only) armed forces against the Grimm.

Next was Dust. The source of energy on Remnant. Incredibly useful for many purposes such as the majority of technology on this planet such as airships and androids. According to history, the inhabitants of this planet were cornered by the Grimm. Had it not been for the discovery of Dust, the world would be ruled and populated by none other than the creatures themselves. It was basically an ammo enhancer in a way, except that Dust has yet to function outside Remnant's atmosphere.

A shame really. It would've been great to give each species of the Darkness a taste of their of medicine.

Another new enemy besides the Grimm were the White Fang. A pro-Faunus peace group that turned terrorist organization overtime because of continual discrimination toward the Faunus people in general and change of influential leaders. Because of it, the group became more radical and violent giving itself a bad reputation. They would wage battles against the government, militaries, academies, huntsman, and an organization known as the Schnee Dust Company for total rule.

It would make Jax roll his eyes every time.

No matter the how right their cause is, it wouldn't justify their style of spreading the message to give Faunus equal rights. If anything, they were ruining the good names of Faunus everywhere just as those who were discriminating them because of their heritage.

Sure there was a bit of acrimony between the Humans, Awoken, and Exos back at the Tower, but it was more of skill, achievements, personalities, and how much time spent in the field as Guardians. Not because of certain physical traits.

Also Jax's fireteam did include an Awoken and Exo and of course he would be more open to them.

Not to mention, humanity was always facing extinction on a daily basis back home.

"And that's basically an overview of where we're at." Jiro concluded.

"Hm, interesting story." Jax replied back.

The reason they've held off on briefing the situation was because of retrieving the information was a little harder than they imagined but they were able to manage.

The easy part was Jiro able to hack into central networks and retrieving the information without even leaving so much as a trace.

No surprise there. News stories of Atlesian-robots attacking civilians was easy to believe that the technology of this planet wasn't very well protected.

"Well, here we are. Anima Village." Jiro announced, as both human and Ghost was able to get a decent view of the village from afar. It was a small settlement obviously, still Jax decided it would be best to have Jiro de-materialize his helmet in case he got too much attention.

Jax's appearance consisted of tan skin, spiked black-oynx hair, black eyes that had a fire which teemed in them, a sharp nose, and well-rounded ears. He looked young and handsome for someone who was only 18.

He took a breath of fresh air in and exhaled it with a smile before he walked down from the hills and into the village. Just like the forest, it was tranquil. Everyone was doing their own business as some children were playing around. However, he was only here to stock up on Dust and other supplies for his travels.

The Dust was for experimentation to see if it could enhance his weapons and abilities.

Jax spotted from who it seemed to be the leader of the settlement and approached him.

"Hello, sir." He greeted himself with a polite bow. A little courtesy never hurt anyone.

The official took note of him and followed the same gesture with a smile. "Greetings to you too, young traveler. Is there something you need?"

"I was wondering where you keep your Dust stored. I'd like to buy some." Jax requested. While on his previous travels, he was able to apply for some friendly contracts and received a substantial amount of Lien, Remnant's worldwide currency.

"Ah, it is down this central pathway, fourth building down to the left, right before the Blacksmith's building." He gestured to his right.

"Thank you." Jax nodded his head and walked off to where he was directed.

He had to admit, the village reminded him of home a little. However, the Hunter had gotten some attention as some on the residents noticed his green cape that had his wolf insignias. Even some of children looked at him in awe, asking between themselves if he might've been the wandering huntsman legend that villagers often tell at night or for fun.

Jax smiled to himself. The people of Remnant did have quite the imaginations.

He stopped in front of a building which held up a sign that said 'Dust for Sale' and immediately entered inside.

The Hunter stopped for a moment and looked around. It was certainly bigger on the inside than it looked outside. The store manager noticed him enter when the bell above gave a ring. Jax noticed the stare and gave a wave before he browsed the wooden aisles for any signs of Dust.

He shortly found containers of stored in the middle-top shelf and began to take all different color types to carry and for further analyzation.

Well, just to carry and catch sight of. The last part is more on Jiro's end.

Another thing to note is that Dust was extremely volatile in both crystal and powdered forms.

As soon as he was done, he paid for his items and left the building.

" _Okay, so we've got all types of Dust ready and prepped for analysis along with experimentation."_ Jax said in the mental link.

" _ **Might wanna wait until we get somewhere that doesn't involve getting people caught in an accident? Unless you really want me to lecture you over collateral damage."**_ Jiro deadpanned.

Jax glared back. " _That wasn't even necessary the first 37 times you've said that during and after my Mayhem Clash Crucible training sessions."_

The Gunslinger was too distracted to notice a rock in his way until he stumbled on it, nearly tripping him and losing his grip on the Dust canisters he was holding. If it weren't for his last second ability to properly balance, an intense explosion would've ensued.

" _ **Maybe I should lecture you on how to watch for big rocks in the middle of pathways."**_

Jax now had an annoyed, yet casual expression. " _Okay, now you're just getting saucy with me."_

" _ **I am not saucy!"**_ Jiro protested in his head.

The Hunter recovered his stance before laying the canisters across the ground for any damages, ignoring his Ghost's protests, until a few voices got his attention.

"You kids sure you won't stick around? You've been real good to this town."

"Sorry, but we've gotta another mission."

"Make it Haven Academy… no matter what!"

Curious, Jax turned to see a group consisting of three girls and two boys around his age talking to the blacksmith of the village. He immediately recognized the two girls he'd seen the night when he joined the ongoing attack from what was classified the Fall of Beacon.

However, they had different outfits/armor from what he'd seen. The girl with red hair now had armor that covered her shoulders, arms, and her legs, along with a metal skirt attachment ( **A/N: No idea what it's really called but roll with it)**. The other one with black hair with red highlights still had her skirt and red cloak, yet had a white blouse instead.

Along with them was a tall blonde boy with gold-lined armor and bracers with a red sash, another girl with orange hair wearing a white top, black bomber jacket, and a pink skirt, while the last male possessed long black hair with a pink streak on the side with long sleeveless coat and white pants.

Jax grinned to himself. It was nice to see that both of girls made out of the tower in one piece.

Back to damage check.

* * *

"Well, there's only one way find out. C'mon guys." Ruby Rose waved the blacksmith who returned the gesture.

Pyrrha Nikos kept a smile to herself as the group began to leave the village and go onto the pathway leading to Shion Village. According to what the blacksmith had informed, the Anima Village had yet to receive any communication from the settlement in a while from where she and the rest of her friends would take an airship to get to Haven Academy to investigate any more possible connections on Cinder and her subordinates in the attack against Vale.

As they were exiting the village, Pyrrha spotted someone at the corner of her eye kneeling a distance away from the group with a green cape facing her.

She managed a double take and got a better sight of the young man. She noticed his hair was black-onyx and spiky, bust mostly his armor. She angled her view a bit and narrowed her eyes spotted a wolf insignia on his gauntlets then noticed a small flame blazing above his hand as he seemed to be analyzing Dust.

Pyrrha widened her eyes and gasped silently. Green cape, wolf sigils, and fire...?

He couldn't possibly be…

Ruby said that the woman Pyrrha faced before shot him with an arrow through the chest after saving her.

Then again, there were multiple sightings of a wandering Huntsman who saved travelers and settlements from Grimm incursions from time to time. Even she believed it to be a tale made up and told for the entertainment of young children and commuters.

Especially from Nora which was very expected.

"Hey, Pyrrha!" Speaking of which, her teammate snapped her out her thoughts and turned her head to see Nora waved her hand for her to catch. "C'mon, you'll get left behind!"

"R-right." Pyrrha sheepishly smiled, nodded her head, and scratched it. "Sorry!"

She managed to get one last glance at the young man until she ran a bit to catch up with her teammates. However, she failed to notice that the young man also took one last glance at her.

* * *

"Are you sure she was one the girls you saved the night Vale City was attacked?"

Jax sighed and rolled his eyes when carrying his Hereafter Sniper in both of his hands, but managed a smile as Jiro was hovering beside him above his shoulder as they were walking through the forest, exiting the village. "For Traveler's sake Jiro, you're a Ghost." He added a chuckle. "I'd thought for sure _you'd_ be able to recognize them first glance."

Jiro bobbed himself up. "Even we Ghosts need to analyze information twice once in a while. I'm honestly surprised that we just so happen to spot the same the girls we've been able to save during the attack. The one with silver eyes though is the one I'm most curious about."

"How so?" Jax questioned with an raised eyebrow. "Other than the fact she can somehow pour the power of pure light out of her eyes."

"That's just it. Right there." Jiro admonished. "When that girl unleashed her power, it not only crippled the woman she thought killed you, but I was also able to pick up high amounts of concentrated energy that could possibly rival the light of a Guardian. Not only that but after slaying the dragon, its remains were turned to stone as to some kind of insurance that it wouldn't possibly heal itself, but the Grimm were still attracted to that area. It's a very rare trait from what we've uncovered in this present time of Remnant, yet legend states people with this sort of physical trait are prophesied to lead the life of a warrior."

Jax hummed in curiosity. "Interesting. What sort of powers do they have?"

"I'm not sure. There's isn't much known about their capabilities." Jiro responded. "One thing we know for sure is that they can be turned against human enemies as we saw with that woman."

"Speaking of which, why wasn't I harmed at all and the only worse thing that happened to me was blindness from that bright light for a second?" The Hunter asked turned his head to his partner.

Jiro bobbed himself up again. "Got me there. The only thing I can conclude with is the Traveler's Light within you or your Guardian armor protecting you."

* * *

"Eh, even those are limited from what we've seen when we face the Darkness from time to time."

"Very true, long time partner. Very true."

A few of birds were sitting along the branch taking into view of the sunshine. However, one of them was observing the young man who was traveling along the pathway of the forest, while tracking a certain black-haired with red highlighted girl along with the rest of her friends to make sure their journey went on smoothly.

This particular crow was not an ordinary one for sure. It, or rather he, had lived, seen, heard and been through a lot over the years.

Qrow Branwen was a veteran Huntsman and teacher at Signal Academy and some things… he wish he could unsee. However, when he heard this rumor and legend about the 'Blazing Wolf', he almost discarded it as nothing but baloney.

Almost. He knew all too well who that person could've been.

The same person who saved Ironwood from getting slashed by the Griffon along with his niece and her friend the day Vale City was attacked and Beacon had been destroyed in the process.

If Ozpin were still about, he'd definitely want to hear the end of this.

As ridiculous as it might have sounded, the veteran Huntsmen needed help. _Any_ kind of help. When the attack of Vale was shown to the world, it only leaked the parts that would hurt any and all relations to Atlas. Take global mistrust toward that nation, then add the next new bit where Cinder acquired all of the Autumn Maiden's powers. Because of her new weakness, Ruby able to cripple her due to the eruption of light from her eyes from a traumatizing event (per se).

There was no doubt in Qrow's mind that there would be powerful figures looking to hunt Ruby down for insurance that she would not interfere with their plans again. However, there was no way he could possibly foil Salem's plans on his own. He may have much experience to his belt, but a huntsmen could only do so much. Qrow needed someone who was skilled. Someone who was dependable. Someone not to be underestimated. Someone he could trust to help him protect his niece and her friends from any unexpected dangers that were sure to pop in their journey to Mistral.

Someone like the person he was following at that moment.

Qrow turned back into his human form after losing the young man he had been tracking for a bit who seemed to be wandering in the forest only to disappear along in the trees. He had a loose, but firm grip on his scythe just in case of any surprises.

 _Click._

Speaking of which…

"You have five seconds to tell me who you are and why you're following me." Came the voice of his target from behind as the barrel was against his the back of his head.

Qrow only smirked in response. "Just a friend who wants to talk to a stranger familiar with the wilds."

* * *

Jax only returned an expression where he didn't really believe his answer, his Lingering Song still at point blank and finger tense on the trigger. " _Sure you do_. Because _everyone_ has a desire to talk to those who have been out in the wilds for fun."

He only returned silence before he remarked. "I didn't say someone who lived in the wilds. I said someone familiar them."

Jax rolled his eyes. "Smart-alleck."

The man only chuckled in response. "Look, kid-"

"I'm a young man, thank you very much." The Hunter corrected quickly. Sure he was only 18, but it still counts for being an adult.

"Man, I just only wanna talk to ya for bit. Discuss some… matters involving the endangerment of this world… and propose an offer." The man answered back.

Jax raised an eyebrow in response. Who in this world would go through all the trouble to find him in order to make some kind of offer he would likely refuse? If anything, he'd rather have a way back home as his presence in this planet could be an endangerment to the people of Remnant.

Then again, the place didn't have their heads into developing space warp drives for jumpships.

" _ **I'm not detecting any accelerated heart beats or see any signs that he's lying."**_ Jiro commented. Jax could easily tell if someone was lying. He just needed his Ghost to confirm that. " _ **I'd listen but stay cautious in the meantime."**_

After a tense moment of silence, Jax sighed and took the barrel of his primary off the man's back head, but firmly grasped it in hand.

"Alright, _friend_." He used the word loosely and sarcastically. "Care to tell me your name?"

The caped man turned around casually and greeted him with a smile while attaching his weapon to his back. "Branwen. Qrow Branwen."

"Jax Pyralis." The Hunter revealed his name.

"Hm. I expected you to be… oh, I don't know… taller with a slightly lower voice and look older." Qrow commented.

Jax sighed and rolled his eyes… again. "Yup. I get that a lot." He then returned a serious expression. "So care to tell me why you've been tailing me this entire time?"

Qrow held up his hands in defense. "Whoa, there hotshot. I only saw you when you just so happened to be in the same town as my niece and her friends were traveling through."

"Your niece?" Jax returned a light-hearted chuckle. "What are you, her overprotective uncle or something?"

Qrow scratched his head a little. "Well… I wouldn't say overprotective." He held out a hand. "To start off, she's a bit naive to the things that happen around her."

"Alright, can we just get straight to the point of why you've been tracking us?" Jiro appeared immediately out of invisibility much to the Hunter's annoyance and Qrow's slight surprise as he raised an eyebrow.

Jax facepalmed and groaned. "Jiro!"

Said Ghost turned back to him and returned defensively. "What? You know I'm like this when we get sidetracked from our objectives."

Jax shook his head and sighed in frustration. The point of staying secret was to make sure that little information or things were seen and/or retrieved as a result.

"You'll have to excuse my friend. He gets saucy from time to time." The Hunter gestured to his Ghost who was now floating beside him.

"Pfft. Yeah, like you act _so_ mature most of the time." Jiro snarked back.

Jax glared at him while crossing his arms. "Excuse me?"

"See? Case closed."

Jax sighed once more before turning to Qrow again. "Like I said, he gets saucy from time to time, but he always looks out for me and makes sure I'm safe." He ended with a smile.

"Hm." Qrow hummed to himself.

"So I have to agree with my friend. What offer do you have that you're so sure we'll agree with as to why you've been following us?" Jax kept his arms crossed.

"It's quite simple really. I just need you to help me keep track of my niece and her friends to make sure they make to Haven Academy safely."

Jax tried his best not to go in full blown laughter, but let a chuckle slip, while Jiro tilted himself. "That's it? You want us to help you keep track of your niece and her friends on their journey?" Qrow nodded his head. "What, are your wings getting too rusty to keep up?"

Qrow frowned and turned to Jax while pointing at the Ghost. "Your friend really is saucy."

"Oh, you have _no_ idea." Jax grinned. "I accept your offer."

"What?!" Jiro turned to him in complete amazement. Why would the Hunter want to help out a total stranger whose only seen him for a few minutes suddenly want to help him keep track of their relative? Sure, he's taken on and done some insane tasks, but at least they actually involved saving _all_ of humanity.

Not just a few campers who were looking for some education in their lives.

Before Jiro could tell him how crazy that was, Jax said. "On one condition." Qrow raised his eyebrow intently. "We have some questions that need answering as to why Vale City was attacked and who we're really up against. And I won't take that it's because the Grimm wanted to take on the urban jungle but couldn't fit in, or the White Fang's just angry they're being discriminated."

Qrow smiled a sincere one. It was a good sign. That meant Jax and Jiro were finally gonna get the information they needed as to the true motivations of the Fall of Beacon.

That or it would be a waste of time. Both were hoping for the first.

* * *

 _Nightfall, Shion/Anima Forest Crossroads_

A little camp had been set up a good distance away from Qrow's niece, learned to be named Ruby Rose, and her friends that they wouldn't be able to sense them.

Speaking of which, said man was drinking out of flask and Jax was sure that wasn't water.

"So… you both have questions. I'll give you answers as to what's happening." Qrow started. "You both were there at Beacon Tower when face that woman, Cinder Fall, and when that light erupted from Ruby's eyes."

Jax nodded his head while sitting on a stump. "Yeah. What do you know about that?"

"Ever heard of the legend of the Maidens and those with silver-eyes?"

"Just the story on those with silver-eyes. You have anything more on their capabilities?" Jiro asked.

"Hm. Beats me." Qrow shrugged, making Jax frown in response. Not a good start for him, but he made up for it. "The only things I know for sure is that they're a long line of warriors who are extremely powerful. So much that a single look can cast fear even into the creatures of the Grimm."

"We already know that part." Jax dismissed. "We wanna hear about these… Maidens."

"To start off, there are four of them. Each representing and being the physical embodiment of the seasons: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. They've existed in Remnant for thousands of years and are extremely powerful." Qrow explained.

"How powerful are we talking about?" Jiro asked. "On an endangerment scale of 'one city' to the 'entire world'?"

The man shrugged. "I'd say 'the entire world' would be accurate."

"Of course." Jiro sighed. If the Ghost could he would roll his eye. It was going to be one of those long string of missions and quests to save a planet from destruction.

Jax ignored his Ghost's exasperation. "What sorts of powers can we expect from each of these… entities per se?"

"It's also unknown for sure the full length of their capabilities. But the last Fall Maiden had the ability to fly, create powerful winds along with fireballs, control leaves and their temperatures to use as projectiles, and even control the weather." The veteran huntsman further returned.

Jax hummed in thought in response of that. If Qrow was right, and he and his Ghost were seriously hoping he wasn't, these Maidens sound like they've could give the champions of Darkness a run for their money. After all, it's not everyday someone encounters dark androids who have time as their plaything, a Hive king who can manipulate the Darkness itself, or even aliens who worship machines who infect themselves with dangerous technologies that make the last threat seem smaller by comparison.

Overtime, even the strongest Guardians have met their match with lower ranks of the dark creatures.

"What happened to last host?" The Hunter asked.

"She was killed before we could even pass it to the next proper host." Qrow's voice sounded very solemn, much to the duo's surprise. He turned serious with a glare. "That woman you faced at Beacon Tower, Cinder Fall, is responsible for Autumn's death, and she's become the new Fall Maiden."

"Is that how the succession works?" Jiro questioned as Jax was carving his knife into some wood while listening to the story.

"More or less. The last young woman the current Maiden thinks of before she passes away is the next holder in line. It's how it's always been."

"Who is this… Cinder Fall by the way?" Jax questioned.

"Like I said before, she's the one who's responsible for Autumn's death and the new Fall Maiden. She's cunning and ruthless. You've seen her in action when she came close to killing Pyrrha Nikos, our supposed new host, back at the tower. If it weren't for your inference, Nikos would be dead. As for Cinder, she's always had a desire for power and dominance. She executes her moves almost flawlessly. The Fall of Beacon, for example, was just one of them."

"Wait, just one of them?" Jiro interrupted in curiosity. "Why would she even go after some academy first place?"

"Because these academies are for training Huntsmen and Huntresses to protect our kingdoms from the Grimm and any other threats, like the White Fang for instance. Not to mention, they act like fortresses for guarding powerful relics. But going back to Cinder once again, she's a formidable opponent. She uses fire-based abilities primarily, but is also skilled both unarmed and in swordsmanship. Not to mention, she's very stealthy as she infiltrated Beacon academy and brought the fall of it thanks to panic she was able to create that attracted the Grimm along with the White Fang attacking. Cinder's part of a group that's even bigger than a few criminals hoping to earn big bucks and more power for a change."

Jax furrowed his eyebrows. "If you and the staff knew that Cinder snuck into the school, why wasn't anything done before the attack could commence?"

"It would cause a strong feeling of panic and mistrust which would attract the Grimm anyway. There wouldn't have been any other way to avoid the attack from happening without causing any suspicion on either her side or ours." The huntsman answered.

Jax hummed once again and continued carving his knife into a piece of wood while Jiro asked another question. "What is this group that Cinder is a part of?"

"Subordinates of the real, main threat that shouldn't be taken lightly. They're the ones who assist their leader, Salem, into bringing about the downfall of civilization all across Remnant and seek to take the power of the Maidens. Like Cinder, they're dangerous. Especially since they have one of the Maidens' powers are on their side."

Jax was about to ask another question, but Qrow already knew what he was going to say. "As for their leader, Salem, she's the one who's pulling the strings in the background and getting others to do her dirty work. She's trying to divide us… humanity to be specific, and she's doing a pretty good job of it so far."

"How come Remnant has yet to hear any of this?" Jiro asked with much concern in his voice.

Qrow sighed sadly. "Because if the whole world knew the truth about the relics, the Maidens, and Salem herself, it would be complete havoc. People would turn against each other too easily and very quick. There would be another worldwide war on our hands which would force young people of your age to be forced into. It's like I've been told many times, 'we can't cause a panic'." He chuckled bitterly it sounded. "I can't even tell ya how many times I've heard that. Salem's all too clever as the perfect flow of her plans prove. There's _absolutely_ nothing we can do to stop people from blaming one another, because it would only accelerate her plan to have the Grimm destroy everything among the dread and bedlam."

The 'Young, Blazing Wolf' continued to look on solemnly, while his construct partner faced down. It was sad to see that Remnant's people were divided so easily against each other and would only paint the blame on one another against a common enemy that was all too clever. The situation between the people on Remnant and on Earth were all too similar. As evidence of the Faction Wars between the most early Guardians, known as the Risen, suggests this since they lacked a common unifying purpose. That was until they realized that the Fallen were the much bigger threat against all of them, were able to repel them, and thus the Last City and the Guardians were born. Except in this case, it would _definitely_ bring the end of humanity on Remnant.

But wait… if Salem's still in the process of commencing her plans to end humanity, was there still time and hope for Remnant's people to be saved?

Yes, there was time obviously, but was there enough to prevent her plans from being fully executed upon and a sufficient amount that the Guardians would eventually locate where Jax was and be able to assist him along with the Huntsmen and Huntresses in their mission to protect humanity from complete and total destruction?

Perhaps.

Even if there wasn't currently, he'd just have to make some time.

Jax returned a serious expression to Qrow. "Is that why you asked for our help?"

Qrow shrugged. "More or less. But mostly because it's to make sure Ruby stays safe in her and her friends' journey to Haven Academy. With what she pulled off at Beacon, it won't go on unnoticed and I'm all too cartain it'll upset powerful individuals like Salem into hunting her down and making sure nothing of that stature ever happens again. It's why I need your help into making sure she stays safe with her friends."

"You do realize that what you've pretty much said is much bigger than protecting a girl and her friends to become better Huntsmen and Huntresses right?" Jiro questioned him.

"I know that already. But having silver-eyes is pretty rare trait." That may have been true for Remnant, but it was a pretty common thing on Earth as the Awoken, Exos, and even some Humans proved it to be nothing of big deal. "It's like I've said before, silver-eyed warriors are very powerful to the point they can just strike down a Grimm by looking at them." A moment of silence passed. "Humanity's teetering to the edge of destruction and there's nothing we can do except fight and hope for the best."

"There's more we can do than just fight and hope for the best." Qrow looked up in surprise at Jax's sudden comeback.

Still, he managed a small chuckle. "Look, kid-"

"Man." The Hunter corrected.

"Man, I'm not sure what angle you're playing at, but these guys we're facing mean business." Qrow returned.

"Yeah? Well, so do we." Jax crossed his arms with a determined expression.

"We do?" The Hunter returned an annoyed look to his Ghost. "I-I mean, we do! We very much do! We're very serious on matters and also known for taking on promises no matter how insane or impossible as they seem even _before_ we consult with each other." He directed the last part at Jax while turning to him.

Jax shrugged, rolled his eyes, face him back and grinned. "Oh come on, at least we help keep humanity breathing for another day. Not to mention, there haven't been any dull moments in our lives."

"Ugh, that will always be an understatement." Jiro groaned.

"But as I saying, we mean business too. While you guys are in a dark time and are facing turmoil, it's just another day and fight in the lives Jax Pyralis and Jiro the Saucy Ghost." He stretched, placed his hands on the back of his head, and leaned back a little.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not saucy!" The construct complained.

The Hunter returned a laugh as he stood up. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. I'm gonna for a walk."

Jiro lagged behind for a moment before joining up with. "I'm gonna follow. And not just because he keeps labeling me as saucy." He floated ahead to catch up.

"Just don't go too far." Qrow called them as he was getting into a position to rest. "The Grimm have a bad habit of interrupting peaceful walks at times."

The Hunter waved back. "We won't and we'll be careful!" He then whispered to his Ghost silently. "Jiro make sure the perimeter's clear of those creatures. I don't really know how to explain to him how I'm essentially immortal."

"I'm detecting no dark sources within 5 kilometers." The construct confirmed their safety. "But I am sensing some source of movement not too far from here."

"Is it friendly?" Jax questioned.

"It's definitely not a Guardian so I'm not too sure." Jiro answered back.

"Well, let's not take any chances. After all, Salem's mostly likely hunting for Ruby and us. Besides, it's nice to take a moment and walk around the forest for a bit." The Hunter replied.

"Wait a second, why would Salem be looking for us?" The construct was curious. "I thought she wanted Ruby on her list."

"Yeah, but remember? Cinder's the new Fall Maiden now and I almost killed her so… yeah, her mistress is not gonna take that lightly and neither should we." Jax returned with a smile. "Besides, knowing Salem she's probably gonna send one of subordinates after us. And if they don't get us, then Cinder will definitely give us a run for our money since she's most likely working to master her new powers for our rematch. It's pretty much why we're in this fight together."

"You really have a thing for making hysterical promises don't you?" Jiro sighed.

"Hey, it's like I've said before. There's never a dull moment in the lives of Jax Pyralis and his companion, the Little Light." Jax patted Jiro like a pet.

The Ghost frowned. "How many times have I told you never to say that name again?"

The Hunter smiled as his materialized and he pulled up his hood. "About 65 times and I've ignored them all."

Jiro only sighed and shook himself. This was gonna be another _long_ quest.

* * *

" _Jaune..."_

 _A voice called out in the dark as the sounds of clashing was faintly heard, but the source could not be found. It had a sense of urgency for sure._

" _Jaune...!"_

 _The voice was a bit more clear, still things went more chaotic. There was still darkness lingering throughout._

" _JAUNE…!"_

* * *

Ruby Rose was trying to ignore Pyrrha's voice in her dreams as she tried to sleep in a forest camping spot along with the rest of JNPR. It was only some months after the Fall of Beacon, but the fact that she almost lost her friend still haunted her to this day.

Not only that, but that man who saved her, seemingly sacrificed himself to save Pyrrha… that was another feeling that also bothered her. He'd never seen him before, but was able to do and pay so much in a small amount of time.

It was a shame she'd never get another chance to talk to him.

" _Jaune…"_

Ruby gasped and snapped up from sleeping. She gazed around, saw the fire had been burnt out, and as Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren were still resting in their sleeping bags. However, one of them was empty.

Where was Jaune?

When she heard a 'follow me', she got up to investigate where the source of voice came from. Ruby walked over to where the bushes were as quietly as possible and stopped behind a tree when she saw Jaune with his sword and shield out as he entered his fighting stance.

It looked like he was following an old instructional video that was recorded by Pyrrha on a scroll so that he could better his combat skills. After a little bit, there was a compliment and encouraging words toward him.

And then this. " _Jaune… I… I… I…"_ There was a brief pause, until the proper words were found. " _I just want you to know that I'm happy to be apart of your life."_

Jaune smiled back. She always had the best interest for and in him to push himself for the betterment of others.

She always said that she was proud of how far he's come.

" _I'll always be here for you, Jaune."_

Those words hit Jaune's heart very much, but almost hit rock bottom at the same time and (unknowingly for him) Ruby as she watched from afar. The video rewinded automatically prompting for him to get back in his stance once again. He was gonna take full advantage of having Pyrrha in his life and not waste it.

For Ruby, as she went back to her sleeping bag, she couldn't imagine how solemn she would be if that man hadn't made it to Beacon Tower rescued Pyrrha in time.

She wished he could've lived to see it.

Ruby wondered about the events which took place after, yet she couldn't remember anything that happened before. Qrow did call her 'special'; not the daddy's girl 'special'. What did he mean by that, though? Was it part of the reason why the attack happened in the first place?

She hoped to get some answers soon.

When Ruby saw a flash of light in the corner of her eye from afar, she looked toward the source of where it came from and spotted a caped figure leaning against a boulder to the left with its arms and feet crossed, seemingly observing from afar.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Why did he look so familiar?

Ruby snapped out of her thoughts when she heard footsteps approaching. She turned back to see that Jaune was already heading back to his sleeping bag. The silver-eyed girl widened her eyes a moment. How long had she been analyzing that figure?

Hiding now, questions later.

She activated her semblance, hid in the trees, and hoped that her teammate passing by would discard the rose petals as just scattered remnants across the ground. He seemingly did so as he was heading back to his sleeping bag without stopping. Ruby decided to take one last glance at the man who was watching from afar only to find the spot void with no trace of his visit.

She looked in confusion before she decided to hurry off to her sleeping bag before Jaune noticed she was gone. However, about the figure who was watching her…

He looked a lot like the man she thought was dead the night Beacon was destroyed. She saw it happen with her own eyes.

If he truly was alive, then what were his true goals and motivations?

Were they for purely good or to backstab her and kill those she loved?

She sincerely hoped it would be to help them.


	3. The More Things Change

**Disclaimers: RWBY - Rooster Teeth; Destiny - Bungie**

 **Sorry this update took a little longer than expected. Had to deal with some with being affected by allergies (i.e coughing and sneezing) and it stunk. On the bright side, I got to see a bit of E3 in action.**

 **Also wanna say this now that there will be two chapters left until there'll be a long hiatus until RWBY Volume 5 and Destiny 2 is released. It'll be an... interesting transition, but I think I can work it out.**

 **By the way to respond to a guest review, "Autumn" is the common name for Fall and they're both represent same thing/season. But I will say that you are still correct.**

 **Without further ado... let's get this started.**

* * *

 _Higanbana Forest_

Life had so many unexpected twists and turns.

That was something that Jax and Jiro knew all too well.

Months had passed after their accidental discovery and crash onto Remnant and the Guardian and Ghost had found themselves working with a man who needed his niece and her friends protected from powerful forces of the Darkness.

A different type of Darkness, but the Darkness no less.

Not to mention how small it seemed of a task, but it was bigger than one would think in the first place.

Gradually, the Hunter missed home and was a little eager to get back to the Solar System and assist his fellow Guardians. With that in mind, Jax also worried that someone of this world might find their crashed ship. However Jiro reassured him that it was very deep in the forest they crashed into so no one would able to stumble upon it.

For their sake, they hope it would be any of the Guardians who would be arriving to rescue them.

Morning had risen in the blink of an eye and the trio were already secretly tailing Ruby Rose and her friends secretly to make sure their trip went smoothly.

It seemed like a good time to have a conversation.

"So, Qrow… what exactly do you do?" Jax asked they were traveling an off-path to the village.

"Hm?" The veteran Huntsman turned back in confusion.

"You know, besides dealing with the Grimm and White Fang who want to destroy everything that's not them? I mean even we protectors of humanity do things outside combat." The Hunter clarified.

Qrow shrugged. "Well, that's just it. We Huntsmen have dedicated our lives to protecting humanity's future and upholding the peace. That's the reason for Huntsman Academies all across Remnant. I'm teacher at one of them. Signal."

"Any hobbies you take up on?"

"Besides trying to forget the nightmares I've faced from time-to-time, sipping a few drinks, and checking up on my nieces… nah." It was a short answer, but it satisfied Jax no less. After all, trust is hard to give nowadays.

Especially in a world where tensions were rising.

"So… care to tell me more about yourself and your little friend?"

That question caught Jax off guard. He forgot he'd have to answer questions about his origins to someone in due time.

However, he expected later rather than sooner.

Nevertheless, humanity was known for adapting in any situation in dealing with the Darkness quickly. The Hunters even more so as they bent the rules for their game of chance to come with a profit for them.

"Well, I come from a settlement in a city that's far away from here." Jax started. "You won't be able to find it since it's very secretive. We've dedicated our lives to protecting it and all those who dwell therein. And Jiro?" He pointed to his Ghost with his thumb. "He's just my companion who helps me out in tactical situations and is a great companion to have along the way."

A moment of silence passed until Qrow broke it. "Huh. Well, that's fortunate for you." It was a short answer just like his before, but it did satisfied huntsman no less.

" _Hmph. Not really."_ Jax thought back as to humanity's situation with only having one city left with the forces of the Darkness clawing at the walls.

Jiro suddenly made a noise of acknowledgement. "I'm detecting a large amount of Grimm creatures along this path up to the cliffside."

Jax hmph'ed. "More trouble for Ruby and her teammates?"

"Mostly for us since _we're_ the ones who are about to ambush them per se." The Ghost disappeared into invisibility.

"Welp, break's over… again." Jax stretched a bit as both veterans readied their weapons for extermination of the beasts up ahead. "Let's take 'em."

Qrow smirked. "Right after you."

Just as they were running down their path to clear out the creatures in that moment, a certain group of young Huntsmen and Huntresses were traveling to the next town where the Grimm were also unknowingly nearby.

* * *

 _Road to Higanbana…_

"Come on, guys! If we pick up the pace, we can hit the next town before sunset." Ruby exclaimed brightly as she held onto the map as she and JNPR were traveling through the forest.

"Assuming it's still there." Jaune sighed, remembering when they came across the Shion village only to find it completely devoid of life.

"Of course, it'll be there. This one's supposed to be pretty big." Ruby turned back to look at the map after gazing toward Jaune. "Hee… gan...b-bayna…"

"Higanbana." Ren corrected her. "It's a well protected village with popular inn."

"Which means no more camping in the rain!" Nora added optimistically.

"See? Everything's gonna be fine." Ruby reassured Jaune.

"We've have a lot of ups and downs, but things could always be worse, Jaune." Pyrrha added, placing her hand on his shoulder for a moment.

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Jaune replied with a small shrug. "I really thought we'd see more Grimm."

"As did I." Ren agreed.

"I guess our luck's finally turning around." Nora suggested and then pointed ahead. "To Higanbana!"

"To Higanbana!/Higanbayn-" Everyone except Ruby exclaimed. Needless to say, she couldn't pronounce it the second time. "..bana!"

"You'll get it the next time, Ruby." Pyrrha assured as they kept walking to their destination.

All the while, a Beowolf crawled into view at the top of the cliffside where the small group was traveling to the next town, its eyes glowing with intent to devour its meal. However, its hopes were shattered before it would even get the chance to gaze at its prey for another second. As soon as it was about to leap at the five young travelers, a sword blade was forced into the beast's chest by certain dusty old crow along with a flaming wolf who was also finishing another one who was about to slip away until he caught wind of it.

Evidence of the other beasts were behind them as far as they knew.

The sound of a crow cawing caught Qrow's attention as he gazed it before the bird took off following the young huntsmen and huntresses through the forest as a small sound of thunder erupted in the sky.

"Pft. Luck." He scoffed to himself.

Jax unlatched his sword from the Beowolf's head and turned his head back to Qrow slightly. "So… where do we plan on staying the night?"

"Somewhere where we can relax." Qrow answered back with a smile.

* * *

 _Higanbana, Nightfall_

Jax frowned as he was sitting at a table with Qrow. When he said they'd be staying at somewhere both could relax, he didn't expect them to kick back at a bar.

Some old habits were hard to break he guessed.

The good news was that no one seemed to be bothering them considering the fact that Jax was the 'Blazing Wolf' the people of Remnant had labeled him which was a little surprising. Although, some attention was received when people caught sight of his armor and the wolf sigils that were tagged on. Not to mention, some comments that he looked pretty young to be a veteran huntsmen.

He couldn't blame them though. The Hunter himself would forget his age a few times he looked into a mirror.

As he was sharpening his knife once again, Qrow gazed out the window as his niece and her friends were checking at an inn not too far from their location.

That was until the sound of a glass drink caught their attention.

"Yup. Not me." Jax said after looking at it for a moment and went back to sharpening his knife.

"Oh… uh… I didn't-" Qrow was cut off by the waitress.

"From the woman upstairs. Red eyes. Said you wouldn't mind bottom shelf." She explained. Qrow turned his head to look up. Jax stopped sharpening his knife and caught his gaze and followed. From his expression, it seemed Qrow knew all too well who that could've been.

Especially from the red eyes trait, not to be discriminate.

"Thanks." Qrow replied.

"But… I went ahead and gave you top." The Waitress winked. "Lucky you." She walked away to attend to other late-night customers as Qrow returned a grin in response.

He looked back out the window seeing that the young team was out of view already checked in. "Yeah." Qrow took his drink and exited from the table, Jax following suite quietly.

Both men had stopped when they caught sight of the woman sitting at the table. She had black hair, red eyes (of course), a shallow cut dark dress, red gauntlets, fingerless gloves, long black stockings, along with a bone mask on the table.

Jax narrowed his eyes on instinct, while Qrow only did slightly.

She gave a small smile and greeted herself. "Hello, brother."

"Raven." Qrow said her name after a moment of silence. He and Jax both started walking to the table with the latter pulling up a chair to sit off to the side. However, Qrow still stood much to Raven's dismay as she sighed, rolled her eyes, and moved her mask off to the side.

He sat down with his drink in the middle and asked one question. "What do you want?"

"A girl can't just catch up with her family?" She shrugged with her hands out, laughing a little. Jax rolled his eyes and went back to sharpening his knife with a small piece of wood.

That or he was a good with woodwork. Jiro really couldn't tell.

"She can, but you're not." Qrow remarked coldly.

" _ **Ouch. Talk about getting disowned by your own bloodline."**_ Jiro commented in the link.

" _Hm. Don't get me started."_ Jax replied.

"How 'bout we get own with it?" Qrow took a sip from his drink. "Unless you plan on keeping these coming." He sat his glass on the table.

Raven asked one question. "Does she have it?"

Qrow knew who Raven was referring to, but didn't answer in an instant. Instead, he went on to another one of his nieces. "Did you know Yang lost her arm?"

Raven narrowed her look slightly and moved forward. "That's not-"

"Rhetorical question. I know, you know." Qrow interrupted her and sent a slight glare her direction as Jax stopped carving and directed his attention to the ongoing exchange between the two. "It's just obnoxious that you'd bring up family then carry on like your own daughter doesn't even exist."

The comment made Jax hum in response.

"I saved her." Raven desperately came back.

"Once." Qrow replied, holding one finger up. "Because that's your rule, right?" He rolled his eyes. "Real 'Mom of the Year' material, sis."

Before he could touch his glass again, Raven took hold of his hand, while Jax tightened his hand around his knife and the other on his Hand Cannon at the side with a glare her direction just in case a brawl would break out.

He'd seen all too often how much fights break out when tensions rose.

"I told you Beacon would fall and it did." She started coldly with cynicality. "I told you Ozpin would fail and he has. Now you tell me… does… Salem… have it?"

"I thought you weren't interested in all of that…?" Qrow replied casually.

"I just want to know what we're up against." Raven replied with significance.

"If you really need a refresh, we're up against the Grimm Witch who seeks nothing but to divide and destroy humanity while taking unimaginable powers under people's noses who's causing panic and mistrust as we speak."

That last comment came from Jax who had his arms crossed with a calm glare toward Raven's direction. She only returned the same expression as Qrow raised an eyebrow.

"And who are you supposed to be?" She retorted, letting go of her brother's hand.

Jax smirked. "Many know me as the 'Blazing Wolf', but I'm also a master of the frontier and stalker of the wilds." His smile disappeared and turned into a frown that matched Raven's glaring expression. "So why don't you tell us why you're so concerned in this fight against Salem?"

Raven scoffed. "It's like I said before. I just want to know what we're up against."

" _We_? Or you and your little band of vicious criminals running around to attack the defenseless such as those in Shion?" Jax retorted coldly, making Raven narrow her eyes at him.

She only returned silence.

"You really should think about how you affect others due to your previous actions." The Hunter drifted off to the side slightly. "Something that we all need to be reminded all too well."

Raven crossed her arms. "Maybe for you… but my tribe has always thought things through to the end."

"Did you now?" Jax questioned with fake innocence while tilting his head and placing his hands on the table. "Because if I have good memory, which I do, your little group also brought the Grimm down in that territory after you left it seemed." Raven opened her mouth but was stopped once again. "And don't give me the lame excuse that the Grimm would attack quickly as a result of the paranoia. We all know too well that they just need to pick up almost the slightest tinge of fear from a distance, things escalate, and everything's done for in hours or minutes. As for this relic that you're looking for, its location is a secret for all we care. Whether we know it or not is _none_ of your concern."

Raven narrowed her eyes at the Hunter and leaned closer to him. "It _is_ my concern. Because Salem will destroy everything if she's able to collect all of them."

"Everything you say?" Jax raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like you _really_ do care what happens to Remnant."

His sarcasm angered Raven, but it seemed true at the same time. As leader, Raven has dedicated herself to leading her tribe through brutal and direct approaches to ensure their survival. She tried her best not to strangle the Hunter there at the moment and Jax knew it. She could tell that despite his appearance, he could take her on any time judging by the fire she could see in his eyes.

After a short stare off, Qrow cleared his throat to get their attention. "Anyway, you should come back Raven. The only way to defeat is we together. All of us."

"Hmph. You're the one who left the tribe." She responded coldly.

"They were killers and thieves." Qrow stated after taking another sip from his drink.

"They were your family." Jax could see the sadness in Raven's eyes.

"You have a very skewed perception on that word." His response made Raven stand up in anger instantly.

"I lead our people and I will do everything to ensure our survival." She turned away from a moment then back again as she took her mask off the table. "If you don't know where the relic is, then I don't see any other reason to stay here to keep talking." She stayed silent for a moment before staring down at Jax who glared right back at her. "Besides, it seems you already have the help that you need so desperately."

She was about to take her leave, until Qrow stopped her. "We don't know where the Spring Maiden is either, and we need to know now."

"And why would you?" Raven retorted coldly.

"Because without her, we're all gonna die." Qrow answered as a matter-of-factly.

A moment of silence passed before Raven broke it. "And which 'we' are you referring to?" She was about to take her leave once again.

"All of us."

Then Jax happened again.

She turned back to him and was met with a narrowed look from him. "You, me, your brother, the people of Remnant, and that goes for your little band of bandits and murderers you call family. If you really think that you're just gonna be able to deal with these hosts of the Maidens' powers up front and directly, you must be insane." Raven wanted to leave, but the Hunter kept her from doing so. "I was there when I faced the new Fall Maiden and let me tell ya, it was a straight up suicidal battle. One of the girls I rescued almost lost her life as a result of facing the new host by herself. The same woman subdued me after I let my guard down for a minute and another girl could've faced her end as well." Qrow's eyes drifted off to the side as he knew he was talking about Ruby, but neither took notice of it. "I've seen a portion of the powers she possesses and I know for a fact that once she's mastered them, she'll easily be able to deal with more than just a band of bandits and her predictable leader."

Raven continued to glare back him with calm fury as silence overtook them.

Nevertheless, Jax sighed and relented. "I know my words harsh, but they're true at the same time. And judging from what I've just saw, there seems to be a number of problems that you need help with… outside and personal." In that moment, she was reminded of Ozpin would've sounded if she were still a student at Beacon. "You're not alone in this Raven. People like your brother, people like me, are here to help you. You just need to open up for us."

Raven glanced off to the side with a sad expression on her face for a moment much to Qrow's surprise. She was a forceful, cynical individual who did everything she could to succeed in missions she took and was very dangerous. To see her sorrowful expression was something else for sure.

Jax, along with his friend Jiro, could be more of a help than Qrow thought in the first place.

The regret on her face was replaced with a soft, angry expression. "I'd rather for you to stay away from me as far as possible."

The Hunter sighed to himself but nodded his head. "Your choice. But know that when worse comes to worse, it'll take a lot more than one powerful fighter to bring down Salem. And we'll come for help anyway."

"Then I hope you'll be prepared to face me when that time comes." Raven replied stubbornly.

And with that, Raven opened a portal, walked through it, and disappeared. The sound of glass breaking caught Qrow and Jax's attention and caught the waitress's face written with nothing but terror and trembling all over her body.

She took a sideways glance at Qrow who only responded with this. "Make this one a double."

Jax only rolled his eyes as he remembered to when he first heard of Raven and to the prior events of the Fall of Vale.

* * *

 _Shion Village, Two Weeks Earlier_

 _The group had visited Shion Village only to find the settlement completely devoid of life except for one Huntsman who had died it seems trying to protect it. According to Jiro's scans from a long distance, there was evidence of fighting linked to an unknown group of criminals and it seemed the Grimm joined in the panic as well._

 _However, it wasn't the White Fang which was strange on Jax's end._

 _Which currently brung about the veterans to explore the ruins of the village at this moment._

 _As Jax was checking corners with his Invective, Jiro regrouped back with him at the center while Qrow was off doing business of his own._

" _Yeesh, ain't this a sorrowful landfill." Jax commented, observing the messed up scenery._

" _There was definitely a conflict here that's for sure." Jiro explained after he made various scans across the village. "I've took time to analyze further into these backgrounds but whatever this power is, it does relate to the data we've been able to retrieve from our time here. It seems... dark."_

 _Jax tilted his head in confusion. Who would come all the way out here just for a little ransack? It doesn't seem like Salem to just send a few of her lackeys to just raid a village in the middle of a forest just for a few resources. Knowing her, she's probably involved with the leaders of the White Fang in order to get what she wants._

 _So why does this look like it has her name written all over it?_

" _Let me guess… Salem?" The Hunter questioned._

" _No. It wasn't her." A new voice got their attention which belonged to the man they were helping._

" _You sure about that, Qrow? It has her name painted all over these ruins." Jax challenged._

" _As much as I want to pin the blame on her, I can't really say that it traces back to anyone who has ties to her." Qrow answered back._

" _So who did you propose did all this then?" Jiro asked._

 _Qrow shifted his gaze sideways with a sad expression before frowning and answered. "Raven Branwen, my sister."_

 _Jax tilted his head in confusion while Jiro popped himself up and exclaimed his statement. "Wait, you're sister did this?!"_

" _...Yes, she did." Qrow answered sadly, but then turned serious. "Her and her tribe. She leads a contingent full of thieves and murderers to serve in her ideas of being the strongest."_

" _So basically, 'survival of the fittest' ideal?" Qrow confirmed Jax's question with a nod._

" _What do you mean by that?" Jiro questioned, while Jax blinked._

" _She does literally anything to make sure people get the idea that she's no pushover and she'll kill anybody who gets in her way, guilty or not. Even other wandering Huntsmen and Huntresses. She was always focused on her objectives rather than her friends and family. Very stubborn girl if you ask me. It was her forceful attitude that split our team apart back in our academy days." Qrow explained sadly._

 _Jax returned an empathetic expression. "We're… we're sorry for that Qrow. We were just curious."_

 _Qrow shrugged it off. "Meh, it's okay. It's hard for me to give out trust these days and you're all I've got." He turned back yet gave back a smile to them. "Besides, I can sense you guys have good intentions and know to keep secrets."_

 _The huntsman started walking off into the distance, while Jax and Jiro looked at each other. The former shrugged before he started trailing behind with his Ghost following._

 _Jax agreed after catching up. "Well, you know us by now. We're good with keeping secrets. Especially those that have to do with keeping everything in one piece."_

" _Well, I wouldn't count on that." Qrow said._

 _Jax nodded his head. "True. We **try** to keep things in one piece and save as many lives as we can. I mean that's our job, right? To uphold the lives of those who matter?"_

" _Eh, it's more of upholding the peace, but saving lives is the better prospect of it."_

" _Hm, there doesn't seem to be much of it anyway." The Hunter pointed out. "Guess that's life for ya. Just because there is peace, doesn't mean that everyone's in the same boat."_

 _Qrow released a bitter chuckle. "Heh, heh, heh, got that right ki-er man. It's given people like the White Fang the chance to stir up trouble when the government least expects it. Take the attack on the Vytal Festival and Beacon Academy as an example. Before that, there was a train crash into downtown Vale. After the crash, criminal activity had stopped completely."_

" _No activity, you say?" Jiro asked, turning himself to Qrow._

 _He nodded his heading. "Nothing. Not even a bank robbery in the last month before the attack. People let their guards down which caused the destruction of Beacon and a number of lives lost. Even Atlas, no surprise, was unprepared for the attack when they stocked their resources in Vale only for them to be taken under their noses. And now it's caused global tension and the general's still trying to dig himself out of trouble."_

" _Sounds we won't be getting any help from him anytime soon." Jax brought up._

" _Hm, wouldn't count on him helping properly anyway." Qrow scoffed much to Guardian and Ghost's surprise at his cynicality. "He might be polite, but he's blunt and thinks that his military might will bring the enemy down. Pft, makes me wanna go spit up in a corner."_

" _Well, at least he tries his best in a fight." Jiro commented._

" _Key word: **tries**." Qrow stopped and turned back to the pair. "The only result is that people starting to get anxious and know something's up. That 'something' being what we saw back in Vale." He paused for a moment before he sighed, turned forward, and continued. "And knowing Salem, that's just a small part of her plans to bring the end of humanity here." _

_Jax walked up to beside him. "Hey, it's like I said before, it's just another day for us. We've encountered threats like this on a daily to yearly basis."_

" _I'm kinda used to it since it is his tendency is to find trouble and walk right into it." Jiro commented. "Seriously, there never is a dull moment in our lives."_

 _Qrow smiled. Jax reminded him of his nieces all too well since they were always striving to become the best huntresses they could and would always find trouble as well and foil Roman Torchwick's plans from time to time. Just as long as they didn't let their victories go to their heads they would be fine._

 _However, trouble's just had about enough visits and decided to give each of them a piece of its mind it seemed._

" _Hm, same could be said here for me." The Huntsmen replied. "Welp, we better catch up to Ruby before her trail goes cold."_

" _Ditto." Jax nodded his head before cocking his primary weapon._

* * *

"Hey, Jax."

The Hunter was brought back to reality by the sound of Qrow's voice and turned to him.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that." The Guardian placed a hand on his head. "I space out from time to time."

"Hm, same here." Qrow turned his head downstairs at the door for a moment and looked back at him. "We should go find a room to sleep at the inn."

Both had got up from their tables and started walking towards the exit of the bar. "You sure it's a good idea to sleep closely knowing your niece might catch us following her?"

"Whether we get caught or not, I'd rather for her to make sure she and her friends get to Haven Academy safely without any trouble." Qrow dusted off the issue with no worry.

Jax scoffed but grinned. "Pft. Knowing what this trip has for us, I think trouble's still gonna get the edge."

* * *

 _Unknown Location_

 _Pyrrha Nikos was trapped in darkness._

 _All alone with no one to help her._

 _Not even Ruby or the man that saved him seemed present in the chaos that she was about to face._

 _Hordes of Grimm lunged at her and she retaliated by fighting it out and defending herself with her spear and shield. A Beowolf tried to flank from beside her, but she silenced it with her Milo while keeping her Akouo up from ravenous claws ready to subdue and devour her. She quickly retaliated by forcing her weapon into the creature's chest before flipping out of the way to gain distance from the creatures._

 _She was only able to rest a second when the roar of another Beowolf was sounded behind her and forced Pyrrha to dodge out of its path. She quickly switched her Milo's javelin to rifle mode and shot the beat in the head twice. She threw her shield at one Grimm creature resulting in it to bounce off of the others which stunned them for two seconds._

 _Two seconds which was more time than she needed._

 _She shot each of the monsters before they could even get the chance to recover and took out the last creature by switching Milo back to javelin and finished off the creature in three rapid slashes._

 _Pyrrha started breathing heavily in exhaustion after the skirmish took much energy out of her and was finally able to release the adrenaline that coursed throughout her body. Hopefully, there would be no more enemies she would face this time, right?_

" _Hello, Invincible Girl..."_

 _At least that's what she thought at the moment._

 _The familiar, sultry voice caused Pyrrha to snap her head up in attention and turned to her new assailant. She gasped, widened her eyes, and was gaping in horror at the new Fall Maiden. The same woman that took the rest of Amber's powers was almost killed her back at Beacon Tower._

 _The one Pyrrha thought she was sure she got away from._

 _The woman grinned as her eyes burned with fire as she saw the fearful look on the gladiator's face. "Aw, don't tell me you really thought of escaping your true fate to death?" Pyrrha tried her best to control her breathing and sent a stern glare her opponent's direction with clenched teeth. Still, the smiled was still painted on Cinder's face. "This time, there'll be no one to interfere in our business."_

 _Pyrrha immediately switched to rifle mode and shot at her enemy only for each one to phase through her as if she were some kind of ghost. Seeing it wasn't effective, Pyrrha rushed at her, faked out of melee attack up front, and tried to assault from behind only for Cinder to backhand her effortlessly and caused to be pinned down on the ground._

 _Pyrrha tried to get up only to grunt in pain as she found her ankle pinned down by an arrow. She tried to remove it but to no avail. As soon as she looked up, Pyrrha found Cinder staring down directly at her with malevolent intent and a smirk to prove it as she brought up her bow and aimed the arrow at her chest._

" _Don't worry." Cinder started again. "Soon, you won't be able to feel a thing."_

 _Pyrrha looked on in horror as the arrow was suddenly released toward her…_

* * *

...then woke up with a sharp gasp and rapid breathing with beads of sweat rolling down her face to realize that she just in her bed in the room she and friends were staying the night in the Higanbana Inn.

It took a full minute for her to let tranquility overtake her mostly. She placed a hand on her head released a air through her nose for a bit. Pyrrha looked to see if her startled wake had waken any of her friends released another sigh of relief upon realizing they were still asleep.

The gladiator turned her gaze at her Milo and Akouo which were paired in the closet for safekeeping which was not closed all the way. She slowly turned out of her bed to close and lock the door to ensure no one would steal her weapons. As paranoid as she might be, there were cases where people's weapons would go missing in the middle night leading to to speculation.

Of course, some of those cases were just people playing around.

As soon as Pyrrha secured her weapons, muffled voices from outside the door could be heard as she was trying to to tune them out, already dealing with a headache she has caught from stress overtime. With another sigh, Pyrrha started towards the door to politely ask those who were in the hallway to quiet down since people (i.e. her and her teammates) were sleeping.

She didn't get the chance to open the door fully when she saw two familiar men walking to their rooms while exchanging words with one another.

Especially the one wearing wolf-decorated armor.

She could take note of part of his appearance but was able to see his onyx spiky hair, dark tan skin, and scar that ran down his left eye.

It was all Pyrrha needed to know her savior's true appearance.

"...heh... I still say it's a bad idea that we're gonna be sleeping in the same building with your niece and her friends. I mean let's be real. Won't they find that a little strange?" He said, talking to red caped man, Qrow.

He chuckled lightly in response. "It's not like we're sleeping in the same bed as them."

"Ugh, don't even go there." Pyrrha saw the man turned his down away from his friend's face for a second before composed himself. "I've had something like that happen to me with one of my friends."

Qrow crossed his arms. "Let me guess. Wise guy thought it was funny?"

There was a silence for a moment. "...No. Wise _girl._ I almost threw her out my window, but I would've had to explain to my mentors why there was blood on ground. So I threw her in mail shipping compost."

The huntsman scoffed. "Really?"

Pyrrha's savior shrugged. "Hey, it's not like she got caught in the package rotation... just the weapons delivery unit. She kept coughing up bullets in her mouth like there was no tomorrow."

Qrow laughed softly. "You really don't have a dull moment in your life, Jax."

Jax? At least she now knew her savior's name.

"No, not really." The young man, now known as Jax, stretched his arms and yawned a bit before continuing. "Well, we'd better get some sleep now. Got a long day tomorrow and I'm sure that it doesn't involve taking a break anytime soon."

"Hm, got that right." Qrow unlocked the door but not before they exchange some last words. "I'm surprised you were able to slay more Grimm than me along that path up to the cliffs."

"Well, I am known for being the blood knight type of fighter. I'm not really one for talk." And with that, they finally ended their conversation.

However, something was… off.

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Qrow was the only one who entered in, while Jax lagged behind for a bit. As soon as he was out of sight, Jax turned his head halfway to make some kind of eye contact with the gladiator as if he knew she was watching him and flashed a peace sign her direction.

Pyrrha stifled a gasp but her eyes widened, closed, and locked the door before anything else could be done. She had her back facing it for a moment before looking through the peephole through the door and found Jax scratching his head in confusion before he shrugged and went into the room he and Qrow were staying, closing it along the way. She sighed in relief once again and went back to her bed quietly without causing any noise, except for a few creaks along the way that didn't seem to faze her slumbering friends in the slightest.

As Pyrrha was laying upside her bed, she frowned a little as she was collecting her thoughts on these new developments. Things were becoming very strange now. First, she spotted the man, Jax, in Anima Village who she thought for sure was dead when Ruby said the new Fall Maiden had struck him in the chest with an arrow. Now, Ruby was saying to her team that she spotted the same man who was supposedly slain at the tower catching sight of her walking back to her sleeping bag after 'taking a late-night walk'.

Ruby wasn't a very good liar by the way.

Thirdly, it seemed that Jax was helping Qrow making sure that she along with her friends were having safe trip to Haven Academy. It was preposterous to say the least. They were Huntsmen and Huntresses in training on a trip through forests and villages which along the pathway should have nothing but Grimm. So why would Qrow go through all the trouble to ensure their journey went smoothly and enlist the help of a man who was sure to be dead?

And why would Jax agree to it?

Only time would tell the true meaning of these events taking place.

For now, Pyrrha let slumber overtake her.

* * *

 _The Last City, Earth_

Everyone in the Tower was restless.

Many Guardians were moving with haste on all levels. Weapon foundries had never been busier with their wielders buying the already huge arsenal they prepared, only to realize there were a larger pile of orders coming in. They worked even harder and faster to manufacture and monitor these weapons, while Gunsmith Banshee-44 was having a tough time keeping track of all of them. Even the three factions in the Tower were very busy with the each of their representatives purchasing new and improved weapons along with armor. Orbital base shuttles and transports with weapon pile stocks, class armors, packages, and other supplies were on standby for deployment ready for what was to come.

The reason for such hypertension was that in the last six months Vanguard Elite Specialist Jax Pyralis had been sent to investigate a Cabal base suspected of harboring warp drive disruptors back on Phobos where the Taken War had first originated. Only this time it was clear then as the Taken's numbers had been significantly reduced after Oryx's death in the Ascendant Realm. The Hunter successfully disabled almost all of the disruptors.

Key word: Almost.

It turns out that after they sent the all clear, the Cabal was actually waiting for a Guardian to actually take the bait, jammed their comms, and ambushed them in large numbers all over the base. The Vanguard have been doing their very best to reach out of him and Jiro lately, but no one has heard a word from them. The other two members of Fireteam Ingin were re-deployed back to the base and made sure that research and development on the warp drive disruptors were wiped for good and managed to destroy the rest the Cabal had been harboring in one of their orbiting transports above Mars.

Since that problem had been solved, now was they had to approach Step 2.

Find out where Jax had disappeared to.

According to intel retrieved completely by Jethor and Ki'lera, Cabal terminals and previous scans indicated a planet whose location had been marked outside the solar system which they had planned to deploy forces there in the next six months. However, their interference had drained them of such resources and once again the Cabal would have to recover from such an agonizing lost.

Since the data had been wiped out, there would be no intrusions from the Cabal for a while; hopefully, enough time until the Vanguard at least received a firm grasp on the situation Jax was in to deploy in reinforcements to his position. Knowing him all too well, the Hunter was probably already picking a fight with an unknown species of the Darkness.

After all, Guardians stuck to the motto: 'shoot first, ask questions later'.

Ki'lera Lojir was inspecting her weapon in her quarters once more until she spoke up. "Typhia, I need you to make another round of preliminary scans for bugs or flaws in this."

Her Ghost, Typhia, came out of invisibility released yet another sigh at her companion's paranoia. "Ki'lera, we've been over this. There aren't any barrels misplaced, shells are fit and stock, along with systems nominal. Your shotgun is fine."

"I'm just wanna be sure that wherever we're going we're as ready as possible." Ki'lera replied back. "Jax hasn't sent any transmissions back in months."

"Well, can you blame him? His ship is most likely disabled from the Cabal warp drive disruptors. It's not like he can just send us a call anytime he wanted to." Typhia stated as-a-matter-of-factly. Ki'lera released a stubborn scoff and crossed her arms with a frown. The ghost sighed once again. "Need I remind you this is _Jax_ we're discussing about? He's always been through thick and thin. I'm sure that wherever he's stranded, he's still holding out."

Ki'lera closed her eyes with a still stubborn glare, but a few tears slipped from her eyes and raced down her lavender face. The Awoken was still demoralized when she first heard news of the loss of Jax Pyralis. Many condolences were given to Fireteam Ingin for their teammate's supposed fall. However, the Speaker wasn't ready to give up on the loss of Jax. In fact, he reassured the Guardians that his light was still shining bright across the stars, but Ki'lera being herself had already accepted the fact that one of her best teammates and close friends had passed. Even Jethor-4 seemed reluctant to believe the Hunter was still alive.

After all, Guardian ships disappearing into cold, vastness of space were nothing to play around with.

As time passed over his loss, the Vanguard was able to intercept a signal deep across the stars. The origin was from a planet which its location was targeted far outside the solar system and unknown to all databases until the Vanguard had been able to analyze the intel by the Cabal which planned to deploy scouts and troops to establish a foothold onto to it with little to no conflict. The planet which the the Vanguard was sure were their missing Guardian was.

Of course, rumors of this spread quickly and it took some time to confirm it as a new discovery.

Dead Orbit took the first jump at this obviously since they now had the chance to prepare for adaption on the new planet in case the Last City needed evacuation efforts to safe shelters for its citizens. The Future War Cult, on the other hand, wanted to establish it as a new base for additional resources. New Monarchy argued that the planet should be explored, and the Vanguard should send Guardians to establish a foothold onto it in order to contribute as a source for new leadership and re-establishing the Golden Age. All in all, the three factions were still at each others' necks on what actions should be taken as a result of the new planet.

Also note that the Guardians, in general, have yet to even touch the planet's surface to so much look at it.

Ki'lera couldn't manage to stop the smile which crept onto her face as she wiped the tears off her face. "I guess so." She released a chuckle. "Jax was never one to run away from a problem when it develops." She turned her gaze back down her Occam's Razor. "His courage makes me appreciate him so much."

"Oh? Is that a soft spot for the lone Hunter I hear?" Typhia teased, pulling herself up.

The Titan rolled her eyes in response. "You know I only care about him so we keep the City safe."

Typhia released a light-hearted laugh. "Of course. You keep telling yourself that 'Metaphorical Mom of the Year'."

Ki'lera scoffed but the grin was still plastered to her face. Many times, she had proven to be some sort of mom to Jax as he had no childhood for being revived as a Guardian despite her short-temper at times.

A knock from the door from her sleeping quarters interrupted her thoughts. Ki'lera sighed knowing what was to come in that moment. At least it gave her something else to think about besides worrying what sort of trouble Jax was in.

She mag-locked her shotgun to her back while walking up to answer the door. "Whoever it is you picked the wrong time to visit my quarters to-"

She stopped herself upon A gray-colored Exo with a teal spot covering his eye was standing at the door with an indifferent in its body language. It was only in that moment who she realized who she was talking to when she opened the door fully.

"What, a friend can't see how his fellow fireteam member's holding up?" He replied.

The Awoken crossed her arms with a light glare toward her teammate. "You know how I feel when I get visitors during this time."

Jethor-4 was unfazed though at Ki'lera's stubborn personality. "It's how you feel when you get visitors in general." His Awoken friend only sighed and rolled her eyes. "You do realize they're only trying assure us they're doing everything to trace where Jax is, right?"

"Pft. I'll believe that when cows can grow wings and grant wishes." Ki'lera released a scoff. "Besides, it should be us out there finding out where he is."

"Ah, but if we did that, you'd either strain yourself so much or we'd be walking right into the same trap Jax fell into." Jethor pointed out. As much as she hated to admit it, he had a point. There was no use walking into something that could turn out to be nothing but a false clue that would cost them their light and lives.

A fatal move which caused the deaths of the many Guardians before them.

"Hmph. Anyway, is there anything you needed besides more armor material and weapon parts?" Ki'lera asked.

The Warlock nodded his head. "The Vanguard requested that we report to the briefing room immediately for details on our assignment on this unknown planet where the Cabal was supposedly going to deploy."

The Titan released an irritated breath out her nose as Typhia hovered over her shoulder and they all started going through the corridor. "Couldn't they have announced on the Tower P.A.?"

"They would, but there are already so many fireteams ready to jump on the opportunity to be the first boots on the ground on this planet. You've seen the amount of weapons and armor that have been passed to a lot of our fellow Guardians. I wouldn't be surprised if someone left the Tower without clearance to deploy to the planet once coordinates have been updated to all databases."

"Hmph, you can say that again." Ki'lera said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if someone left the Tower withou-"

Both had stopped walking when Ki'lera sent a death glare Jethor's way that resulted in silence… which only lasted one second before the Exo laughed.

"I didn't mean literally." The Titan sighed in annoyance.

"Well, you should've been a bit more clear on that matter." The Warlock started to walk ahead of the duo.

The Awoken only rolled her silver eyes and shook her head before muttering one more thing.

"Smart-alleck. Seriously, you can be so much worse than Jax."

* * *

 _Higanbana Bar, Early Daybreak_

The waitress of the bar was attending to herself and scrubbing the floor with soap to clean up dirt and stock up for the night. Things had been scary to say the least for her, but her bosses assumed she must be going crazy and thought it was a cover-up for her missing out on attendees.

It was a load of lies for sure, but her supervisors wouldn't hear the end of it.

"Excuse me."

A voice had grabbed her attention and she looked up and found the sound originated from a man with a brown long coat, ear piercings, and sadistic smile scribbled on his face.

He licked his lips and requested one thing. "I was hoping you could... help me find a few people."

The man snickered a little until he went to a full-blown cackle terrifying the waitress once again. First, it was seeing the mysterious woman with red eyes disappear into a dark portal, and now this man sounded as if he wanted to spill blood on whoever he was trying to find.

What had she been tangled into?

This was becoming more of a nightmare.


	4. The More They Stay the Same

**Disclaimers: RWBY - Rooster Teeth; Destiny - Bungie.**

 **Yeesh... a month after the last update. I've got to pull myself back into this...**

 **Also I just want to address a few things before we get started with this chapter. A few features that were showcased in Destiny 2 (i.e the new weapon system) will be incorporated into this story eventually. The new Supers won't probably be until much later on the story. If things get too complicated, I'll just rewrite and start a new narrative from the very beginning. But time will tell if things get too chaotic in the details of this.**

 **Also if you were looking for a Qrow and Jax vs Tyrian battle, sorry to disappoint you; Qrow will be doing most of the fighting here and there with Jax observing from the sidelines perse.**

 **But I'll make it up to you in the next chapter with Jax and JNPRR(?) fighting the Nuckelavee in Chapter 5.**

 **So without any other delay, let's get this started.**

* * *

 _Atlas Headquarters_

'Another day, another dollar' as the old saying went.

For a certain leader, it was more of 'another day, another mudpile to trudge through'.

General Ironwood was sitting in his office with reports stacked on his desk. The aftermath on the Fall of Beacon had been much worse toward him than the actual battle himself. Dealing with the lot of reporters, councilmen from the other continents, and various interrogations had taken much out of him. Still, he was general to Remnant's most technological army and fleet which was relied on very heavily. He had to uphold his responsibilities to the people of Atlas and to protecting the people of this world.

If he couldn't do so, then who else would be crazy enough to take his place as leader of Atlesian fleet and Atlas?

He forcefully had to focus himself on filing and writing out the small remainder of reports that had been left on his desk. Just a few more pages and he'd finally be done with this event from Vale thus far.

As if there couldn't be any more interruptions, a voice sounded off on his desk intercom. " _General, sir? You've got company."_

He sighed to himself in exhaustion while gripping the side of his face. A man's duties are never done. He pressed the button to respond. "Tell them that I'm busy at the moment filling out the last of these reports and conducting my schedule on more meetings. I don't have time for-"

" _It's Winter Schnee, sir. She wants to report to you personally."_

The general stopped writing his report and glanced back at the intercom for a moment. He knew that when Winter wanted to talk to him personally, there was something of extreme importance that couldn't be leaked out to the public yet.

He narrowed his eyes and before responding a second time. "Send her up."

General Ironwood filed up the last of the papers away in a folder and placed under his desk. He folded his hands in front of them and waited patiently for the high ranking specialist to enter.

A few tense moments later, a knock on the door had filled the silence. "Come in." He answered.

The door was slid open and revealed a woman with white hair tied in a bun on the left with her bangs falling to the right side of her face and blue eyes. Her normal attire was a white coat, black gloves, and snow-colored pants.

The woman saluted as soon as she was a few feet from her leader's desk. "General Ironwood, sir. Atlas Specialist Winter Schnee, reporting."

The general gestured his hand which moved down. "At ease, Schnee." Winter's hands fell toward the side, but her posture was still straight. "Give me a sitrep on your reports regarding any recent activities."

"Sir, comms have intercepted White Fang transmissions and communications concerning past rallies within the last 72 hours. Besides the Grimm, scouts have reported there has been an exponential increase in mobilization from the White Fang across Remnant all focusing in on Mistral. Weapons and dust trading have also been largely expanded within that small window of time." Short pause followed. "We may be looking at another attack, just as the one deployed against Beacon Academy, sir."

General Ironwood narrowed his eyes. It had already been for a few months and the White Fang was itching for another fight. He had to give them credit though. They were persistent in their attacks as they were very tactical in their assault against the Vytal Festival and Vale.

He'd consider them worthy opponents if he hadn't seen them as a threat to Remnant's people.

Winter ended with one last question. "What are your orders?"

Ironwood immediately replied. "Deploy back to Mistral and report any new developments you see. If the White Fang are preparing for another attack, I'll report it to the council and our allies."

Winter's eyes widened but only slightly. "But, sir, considering the circumstances-"

"I know what the circumstances are, Winter." Ironwood assured her. "But this is something we must take seriously considering from what we've seen from the attack against Vale. Our air and ground power has been severely diminished and there's only so much we can do now. I will place the fleet on standby and on a low threat level. Until then, I need you to keep gathering intel and report on any new activity. Only then will we talk about deploying the remainder of our forces to Mistral and Haven Academy. Understood?"

Winter had a small amount of seriousness and concern written on her face, until she nodded her head. Yes, sir. Understood."

"Good. You are dismissed." Ironwood stated. Winter turned her back and exited the general's office leaving her to wonder if things will be just as disastrous to that of Beacon.

As for the general himself, he'd have to think hard on this new development. The White Fang had become more bolder and dangerous than they've ever been in the past coming years. With a potential new threat, he'd doubt that the headmaster of Haven would able to handle such a large scale invasion just like Ozpin did back at Beacon.

Ironwood would have to report on this development to the council together with the leaders of the other continents and hope they still trusted him along with the other officials of Atlas. He already had a lot on his plate after Beacon was attacked and reports of numerous sightings involving a mysterious Huntsman with wolf sigils wielding solar powers and advanced weaponry that went well beyond Atlas' technology.

However, the safety of the people of Remnant would have to come first before he made any other moves. And if he could, he'd want to personally meet with this 'living legend' since he sounded so… otherworldly.

Ironwood had a feeling that things were about to spiral even more out of control than before.

* * *

 _Oniyuri Forest Crossroads_

The trail to following Ruby was a quiet one, but Jax didn't expect it to be a conversational one. He and Qrow were already caught up into knowing each other, yet the Hunter did not tell him information which could compromise his and Jiro's true identities and abilities.

Events transpiring on Remnant were already bad enough with the Grimm becoming more vicious along with the White Fang becoming more bolder in their attacks as their recent assault against the Vytal Festival prove as evidence of their insurgency spreading all the while becoming worse each passing day. It would become even more deplorable if the people of this planet were to find out the Hunter was from another world. All the more reason for the Jiro's persistence into finding material into repairing their warp drive and constructing a new ship in case he needed to go back home to the Tower and report on this new development to the Vanguard.

However, Remnant seemed to be nothing short of backwater compared to Earth with its Guardians. The Hunter supposed the situation could be a whole lot worse.

After all, he and Jiro still had not been sucked into a transdimensional vortex from the Shrine of Oryx.

After trudging in silence for what it felt as though years passed by, Qrow lifted up his left hand as if he sensed something was wrong. At the same time, Jax's instincts were kicking in held up his Lingering Song as Jiro started beeping in acknowledge.

"Heads up. I'm detecting movement not too far from us. Moving at a rapid pace towards the village." The Ghost acknowledged.

"Grimm?" Jax asked.

Jiro shook himself. "No. I'm not detecting pure dark presence within 7 klicks. It's too fast to be one of those creatures for sure. Almost as if it's… human." Both men tilted their heads in confusion for a moment. "We should get a look at who's heading there. Marking intercept point in your HUD."

Coordinates were uploaded in Jax's helmet feed as Jiro went ahead to catch sight of the target. The Hunter turned back to Qrow, who was still a little baffled, until the small gesture to follow snapped him back to reality. Once they reached the edge cliffside, they spotted a man in a brown long coat with wrist blades in hand running down the pathway at swift speeds with a seemingly killer smile on his face and sadistic giggles escaping from his mouth.

Jax narrowed his eyes while Qrow's widened slightly with Jiro gazing on in interest. "I'm also detecting some peculiar traits in his long coat. I could be wrong." The Ghost noted.

The trio did not need to know much else as to what this stranger's next move was.

Qrow had a determined expression on his face in that second. "Stay behind."

Jax turned toward him in disbelief. "What? Why? We both know too well what's gonna happen to Ruby if we don't get to her right now!"

"This is between me and whoever that sicko's working for." He turned back to the Hunter before gazing ahead of the rocky path which the man was starting to disappear across the horizon. "Besides… they'll want to know what's going on before this is over."

Before the Hunter could argue his point even further, the Huntsman turned himself into a crow much to Jax's surprise at which it, or rather he, flew off into the distance to catch up toward the armed stranger to deal with him himself.

Jax let out a breath out his nose before he ordered his Ghost, "Lock onto the coordinates to where they're going."

It was Jiro's turn to show disbelief (as much as a Ghost could anyway). "What?! You heard Qrow. He said that he'd deal with it-"

Jax stopped his Ghost's protests. "He doesn't seem know what he's getting into nor does he care. Qrow _will_ need all the help he can get." He locked his primary to his side and took his But Not Forgotten in hand. "Besides, we're not gonna stand on the sidelines and let him get killed along with his nieces and her friends on the way anyhow." Jax started jumped down along the pathway and started sprinting to his new objective.

Jiro followed suite back into invisibility and was already amazed at how the Guardian had switched his priorities. " _ **Wow, it's only been a few weeks and you care for what happens to them?"**_

" _My duties lie within protecting humanity. Even if it falls to a group of young children."_ Jax replied through the psychic link as he picked up the pace.

" _ **To be fair, Ruby and her teammates are probably just as old as you are."**_ The Ghost replied.

" _Younger, older, same age, it doesn't matter. They're in danger now and what matters is that we get them out of whatever trouble they're in alive."_ Jax concluded.

The Hunter had made sure he was ready to switch his other subclass Bladedancer in case close-quarter combat would be necessary in situations such as these. The Guardian and Ghost might not have known much about what their new enemy and it didn't matter at that moment.

What they did know was that they needed to catch up to Qrow and get to Ruby before worse came to worse.

* * *

 _Oniyuri Village_

To say things were bad was an understatement.

Ruby and her friends were struggling to hold off against an unknown enemy who were attacking them with little difficulty. As soon as the attack stopped, the man revealed himself to be a scorpion Faunus as the reveal of his tail was shown. He now stood at the top of a roof with a malevolent smile still across his face. Who was this character and why did he want to take Ruby away?

They needed answers right now.

"What is this about?! The White Fang? Roman Torchwick?" Ruby exclaimed to their enemy.

He only scoffed in response. "Plastic soldiers and pawns! My heart and body only belong to my goddess." The Faunus lifted his hands into the air as he gazed up at the sky.

Pyrrha's heart stopped for a moment before her face twisted in righteous anger.

Ruby also glared in tranquil fury as she knew only one person could fit that description… or so she thought.

"Cinder." She spat out in disgust.

The Faunus only let out a small chuckle and sneered. "Heh, only in her wildest dreams!"

His assault continued as he uses his tail to knock back Ruby's Crescent Rose. She still manages to maintain her grip onto it as both try to land a hit on each other with the Faunus finally able to punch Ruby away and quickly turning his attention to Ren as he dodged a little frantically as Pyrrha tried to get into flank him. Tyrian saw this and kicked Ren away as he used his tail once again to flick into his new target as Pyrrha brought up her shield to minimize damage. The shockwave effect still knocked her back though. Jaune joined into the fray, but his efforts prove unsuccessful and was kicked back. Nora's attacks were also just as ineffective and she was pushed aside as well.

This was a one-sided battle.

* * *

Meanwhile, as the fight raged on, a crow is currently flying into the village determinedly with a certain wolf not too far behind.

" _Get me a good vantage point for observation."_ Jax requested in the link.

" _ **I need a moment more to calculate the probabilities and behaviors of the motions I'm tracking. They're a little sporadic."**_ Jiro informed back.

" _Sporadic or not, we need to make sure we get a clear shot at that man who's attacking Ruby."_

A moment of silence, until… " _ **Results have been made. Marking safe distance and observation coordinates now."**_

As soon as those words were heard, Jax disappeared into a flash of light as he ported to his new destination. He found himself on top of a roof on a very high, yet a bit of an unstable building. He ran to the edge of the structure and caught sight of the conflict that was developing and it was proving inadequate at the moment.

The man had already caught up to the group of young Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training Jax and Qrow had been tracking and were getting torn apart easily. The Hunter caught sight of the man, who also had a tail?! He must've been one of the Faunus that Qrow was talking about. Was he from the White Fang?

No time for questions. Now was the the time for shooting.

He already had Ruby down and the others were separated, trying to recover from the attack as they looked on in horror. Qrow was nowhere in sight and things were already at their worse.

Jax narrowed his eyes down in anger as he took up his rifle looked through the scope of it, trying to get a clear shot at the Faunus' head as he heard him laughing malevolently from the distance faintly.

" _ **If you're gonna take the shot, now's a good time!"**_ Jiro frantically said to the Guardian.

The Hunter glared through the lense of the scope and aligned his sights perfectly at the man's head.

As his finger tensed on the trigger and was about to press down on it, a wall to the side of them was smashed through revealing Qrow blocking the stranger's tail with his sword without even looking at him. He gazed at his niece for a minute only uttering one word before he forced the stranger's tail back to face him.

Jiro sighed in the link. " _ **Yeesh. Talk about close calls."**_

The Hunter stopped aiming but kept narrowed eyes under his helmet as Qrow and the Faunus seemed to start exchanging words. He turned up his helmet's volume to spy on in the conversation and zoomed his visor to focus on the group.

" _Finally, a true Huntsman has entered the fray!"_ The man bowed in somewhat real courtesy.

Qrow only had an eyebrow raised as Ruby got up from behind him. He turned to his niece for answers, but she only responded with a whisper. " _I don't know. This guy's weird."_

' _Pft, no kidding. He needs to be locked back up in his asylum.'_ Jax thought to himself.

The veteran Huntsman turned back to the Faunus with a glare. " _Look, pal. I don't know who you are, but you need to leave my niece alone."_

The scorpion Faunus chuckled. " _Why, friend, my name is Tyrian, and I'm afraid that's not possible. One of my assignments from her Grace is to retrieve this young girl. So… that is what I must do. One does not upset the queen."_

" _Queen?"_ Ruby questioned, not receiving a grasp of the true situation that's developing in front of her.

Jax knew in that instant who he was talking about and eyebrows narrowed once more. " _Salem."_

" _ **Of course. I mean, it would make sense that she would send one of her subordinates after the young lady to make sure nothing interferes with her plans. That or evil is just plain lazy."**_ Jiro informed through the link with sarcasm at the end.

" _Hmm, I think we've had enough talk, don't you?"_ The man, now identified as Tyrian, decided to conclude the exchange and assumed a pouncing position.

" _Took the words right out of my-"_

Qrow's statement was stopped when Tyrian rushed the Huntsman and the two started exchanging blows toward each other. Once again, Jax focused on the fight which resumed once more, but with Qrow taking on the mysterious Faunus, Tyrian, by himself, ordering the others to stay away from him.

The Hunter was impressed by Qrow's skill set, and as much as he hated to admit it, to Tyrian's. Both would be able to give some of the Guardians a run for their money. Still, as an Iron Lord and Vanguard Elite Specialist compared to his standards, he was far more powerful and faster than one might judge him. Thanks to Crucible spars with Saladin, he had been able to learn the basics on how to handle swords and mastered a few fighting techniques while adopting his own style. He made sure to pay attention to each lesson given to him, especially toward the ones where one did not need to be flashy and to be focused in the art of battle, while using the environment to their advantage.

It was one of the testimonies to how he had earned his spot among the Vanguard Elite Specialists.

As the fight raged on, he saw Ruby climb onto one of the rooftops to try and shoot down Tyrian, but no effect. Jax wasn't nervous that he might get spotted as Ruby seemed to be too focused on getting a shot at Tyrian. This didn't stop the young huntress as she sprung back into action when the brawl dragged onto another rooftop which was promptly destroyed. Much to Qrow's dismay, Ruby would not stay back as he told them to, and Jax couldn't blame her.

He'd join in to if one of his allies was in immediate danger.

Just as Qrow saved Ruby from a falling beam, Tyrian took the advantage and grazed Qrow with his tail much to everyone's else shock, except for Ruby who did not even seemed fazed from it and was glaring at the Faunus.

As for Jax, he wasn't gonna have any of it either and glared one last time through his scope, aimed at Tyrian's tail and muttered only one word.

" _Checkmate."_

Not even half a second after his word, he pressed the trigger and the void round found its destination.

* * *

"AAAH!" Tyrian reeled and screamed in pain as his tail was shot off by an unknown source with traces of gravitational and dark energy surrounding it. Everyone else stood in confusion at the sudden turn of events which presently transpired.

Just as he was about to locate the source, he was suddenly assaulted upon by two sword slashes across his chest, followed by one down his stomach, and quick boot to the face.

As he laid on the ground trying to get his senses back, everyone else, except for Qrow, stood in awe at who was standing amongst them. However, Tyrian gazed in horror when his vision returned to him and received a clear sight at what- or rather who- had damaged him.

The figure in front stood protectively between him and the other young Huntsmen and Huntresses with his sword in hand at his right side. He bored silver armor with fire teeming inside them, a green cape, and ornamented wolf sigils.

Tyrian knew too well who this mysterious stranger could have been, and he did not seem to happy to stare down upon him.

Not to mention, the fact that he couldn't see the man's face horrified the scorpion Faunus even more.

"Leave. Now." His next words were the embodiment intimidation as Tyrian was trying his best to breath normally. No sooner had the Faunus heard those words, he got up and scurried on out of the village muttering to himself that Salem would forgive him for his failure.

Cinder wasn't kidding when she said that this Guardian would be able to subdue and he almost paid a hefty price for it. Tyrian didn't know much of the Guardian, but he knew that his opponent was restraining himself from killing the Faunus then and there. He'd have to watch his back from now on.

Of all the places, why did he have to show up here and now at the time? What did he have to do with stopping him from taking the young rose away? Did he know about the legend of the silver-eyed warriors, the Maidens, including Salem herself?

Tyrian almost wished he didn't want to know more of this Guardian's secrets and abilities. Almost.

He'd get revenge on him soon for this humiliation and make sure he knew his place.

That is… if Salem doesn't dispose of him.

* * *

As soon as the scorpion Faunus had left his sight, Jax placed away his sword to his side and turned back to face the others he had followed and protected for so long, even Ruby who was tending to her uncle, who had expressions of awe written on their faces.

The same red haired girl he rescued from months ago, however, found her voice. "You're… you're… still alive…"

The Hunter smiled under his helmet and quipped. "What? Were you expecting maybe a ghost or something?" The girl returned a look of disbelief that he would crack a joke at a time like this. Jax couldn't help it though. He picked up that kind of habit from the other Hunters and Cayde.

Still, there were other serious matters at the moment. "But yes, I am. Though you should worry for him." He pointed to Qrow as he was still breathing heavily as he clutched his wound everyone arrived to him at his side.

"I thought I told you to stay behind." The veteran Huntsman panted in pain, much to everyone's surprise once again.

"Whoa, wait a minute. You know this guy?" The blonde haired boy of the group asked in disbelief but he was ignored.

"You did, but then you and your niece along with her friends would've been killed and/or kidnapped. Besides, you've been grazed." The Hunter pointed out.

"It'll be fine. It's just a flesh wound." He managed to release a shaky smile before going back to breathing.

"Yeah, that'll definitely heal up…" Jax sarcastically replied much to Qrow's chagrin. Both could only relax for a moment, before the huntsman was bombarded with questions.

"Who was that guy?" The orange haired girl asked.

"How did you get here?" The black, pink-striped haired boy questioned next.

"Why are people after Ruby?" The same blonde haired boy asked.

"And who is this guy and how is he still alive?" The red haired girl shot another question, pointing and referring to Jax.

Ruby glanced at all of them, even Jax, turned back to her relative, released one final inquiry. "Uncle Qrow, what's going on?"

With a few seconds of breathing, Qrow responded. "What's your favorite fairy tale?"

Jax spotted a cross of disgrace written on Qrow's face. He too could also feel Jiro's questioning glance. Both of them knew where this was leaning towards and secrets were gonna be spilled out. Still, it was high time for the truth to be told since stuff was going down, and people needed to know what's up.

Some people at least. Not everyone could handle the truth.

* * *

 _Nightfall, Oniyuri Forest_

The entire day so far felt as if she had been sucked into huge nightmare.

Pyrrha had much on her mind after proper introductions with Jax being the 'Blazing Wolf' just as Qrow finished telling the rest of her friends the existence and legends of the Maidens which was thought to be lost to time, but turned out to be real. Next, was the true motivation behind building the Huntsmen Academies to safeguard the relics and seemingly hide physical forms of knowledge, creation, destruction, and choice to keep out of the true enemy, Salem.

However, she still couldn't decided which was harder to grasp: the fact that Jax (who was out scouting the grounds not too far) was somehow still alive after taking an arrow to the chest and that he was the 'Blazing Wolf' the recent stories had deemed him to be, the reason that Qrow stayed away because his semblance would bring misfortune to those around him, or that there were other higher powers seeking to destroy Remnant in a heartbeat.

And why was she getting this feeling that Jax was much more than he seemed?

"Pyrrha?" Jaune's voice broke the gladiator out of her thoughts causing her to blink rapidly for a few seconds and turned to her companion. "Are you okay?" Upon that question, she realized everyone else, even Qrow, had been staring at her in worriment and concern.

Pyrrha released a weak smile and nodded. "I-I'm fine, Jaune. It's nothing."

"You haven't been the same ever since the night Beacon fell and Ruby left her team. You've become more paranoid and space out more than usual." Jaune pointed out. "If there's something bothering you can always tell us."

Pyrrha turned her gaze at the ground with guilt. "It's not like you would believe me if I told you."

"Pyrrha, we're your friends." Ruby reassured her. "Of course we'll believe what you say. You'll only make things worse if you won't say to us what's been causing you to isolate yourself from us. We don't want you to get to the point where you won't trust us anymore. We just want what's best for you and the rest of us."

Pyrrha tried her best to keep a few tears in. It was already bad enough at which the feeling of shame could not let her go on for months since the gladiator thought she had failed in protecting those she cared about. Not to mention, the thought of leaving a battle to a stranger she thought died when he took her place on top of the tower against Cinder haunted her even to that day. Although she had exceeded in her combat classes in Mistral and Beacon, it still seemed to prove futile in the long run since there were enemies and allies alike that she could never seemed to close the gap in combat to protect Remnant.

Even with that, the world was just a giant tinderbox which was waiting for someone to light a match and set it off.

"C'mon, kid." Qrow spoke up this time. "The sooner you tell us, the sooner we get this problem solved and over with."

Pyrrha sighed once again. "The thing that's been bothering me… is… it's just…" She paused before she started from the very beginning. "Ever since Beacon was destroyed, I've been… having mostly bad feelings cross me. Paranoia, just as you said before Jaune." Her friend straightened himself out more at the mention of his name. "I've been more on guard than usual even after I've gotten to safety; even more so one our way to Mistral. I didn't even have a clue as to what was really happening until Ozpin showed me that girl, Amber. Then, things from there… just spiraled out of control. Everything hit me so hard, I… I didn't know how to handle it." A moment of silence passed. "After that, I thought I could stop Cinder by myself and I almost paid my life for it. Instead, that man … he...just showed up out of nowhere and saved me. I wanted to repay him for what he did until I found out what happened to him when he faced Cinder and I blamed myself for everything." She tilted her head down in sadness. "If anything, I'm nothing but a coward for everything after that."

Once again, the gladiator choked back on her tears. Her friends were surprised that she has keep this all bottled in for months even before their journey to Mistral. JNR and Ruby felt remorseful for her and scolded themselves for not even questioning her if she had been tearing herself out on the inside rather than physically because of her self-guilt. Had the other teammates had known, they would've consoled with her on that matter.

Still, it was better late and now than never.

Jaune was the first to speak. "Pyrrha, you're nothing like a coward from fleeing to safety. You knew that you were in danger and did what was best for yourself and us alike. If it wasn't for Qrow's friend showing up in the nick of time, you wouldn't even be here. Besides that, you were knew what the circumstances were and if you hadn't gone up to face Cinder, who knows what could've happened? She would've taken advantage of her new powers immediately and destroyed us if you hadn't at least intervened in that conflict." He gave her a warm smile. "It's because of your bravery that we're all still alive right now and that we all still have a long way to go if we want to protect everyone we love and care about."

"It's why we're all going to Mistral together." Ruby included, joining Pyrrha at her side. "We're gonna try to make sure nothing like that happens again. We're in this together as a team."

"Besides, we have Ruby's Uncle's help and along with his friend." Ren pointed out, also standing by. "Which will make the trip a little easier."

"Yup!" Nora perked up near them all. "On to Mistral to better arm ourselves!"

Immediately, everyone looked her way in confusion, disbelief, and a little bit of betrayal. Nora only looked back in puzzlement for a moment before she realized her mistake and blanched.

Ruby's sister, Yang, had her _arm_ cut off during the incident at Beacon and Nora said to better ' _arm_ ' themselves in a sentence.

Awkward...

"Uh, I-I meant upgrade our weaponry so we could blow up our enemies more efficiently and stuff!" Nora stammered through her statement. "Not the other thing… concerning… Yang… and her arm… Ruby… hehe..." She trailed off with a sheepish smile and a blush across her face. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, that's my phrase. No stealing." Pyrrha playfully scolded her teammate with a smile.

But soon enough, the unintentional joke was brushed aside when the sound of someone clearing their throat brought everyone's attention to the source followed by a new voice which entered the group's interaction and started a new conversation.

"Aw, what? No hug for me? I already feel so excluded."

Everyone turned their heads to find the same, new voice came from caped man that saved everyone else earlier and tagged along with Qrow. They found him leaning against a tree trump with both his arms and legs crossed with one another; one hand still holding his solar sword with a firm grip latched onto it.

A few seconds passed before he started walking over to the group to find a spot and be included in the group's rest stop.

"By the way, we're clear of Grimm and there's no sign of our scorpion friend either. No one will be bothering us tonight." The caped figure stated as he sat down on a log with relaxation written over him.

As soon as he sat down, he placed aside his weapon to the back of his armor where it was well-hidden beneath his hooded cape. The atmosphere was tensed with an awkward silence that seemed unbreakable until everyone got back to their original spots around the campfire.

Ruby started. "So… uh… we never caught your name earlier?"

"Never threw it. Name's Pyralis. Jax Pyralis Blackwood." He revealed his name to the other Huntsmen and Huntresses.

"And you're the 'Blazing Wolf' character that everyone's been talking about." Ren continued.

"Yes. I actually kinda like the name considering it's close to the one I've been given after short period of time from working with one of the older warriors." Jax commented with a nod.

"And you've been following us with some help…" Pyrrha added.

"Uh-huh." Another nod from him.

"All because you just wanted to keep us safe." Nora finished.

"Yup, that's the gist of it."

"But why?" Jaune received Jax's attention at the sudden question.

"Uh, beg your pardon?" The caped warrior turned his helmet his way.

"We just want to know why you would do this for us. How come you would go out of your way and risk your life for just a small group of Huntsmen and Huntresses in training on their way to another combat school?" Jax tilted his head to the left. "I mean… we thank you for it, but why waste your time with us when you could have other lives to save throughout the wilderness or look for lost relics and treasures of the past that could have an impact on us all?" At the last part, Jaune had both of his hands extended out to Jax, who only sighed after a moment of silence.

"So you all really want to know why I'm focusing on you guys?" He received various gestures from nods to shrugs from the group. "Welp, I suppose I could start from the beginning."

"After you've taken your helmet off?" Nora suggested, eager to see the 'Blazing Wolf's' face.

"Then my appearance wouldn't be a mystery anymore." Jax quipped.

"But then we wouldn't have to wonder what you really look like." Pyrrha reasoned.

"..." He only returned silence at the moment.

That is, until Ruby got in front of him with big, teary eyes that just screamed innocence and adorableness. "Please, Please, Please?! Please show us what you really look like! We'll promised not to tell anyone you're the 'Blazing Wolf'! PLEASE? Pretty please with a cherry on top?!" To top it all off, she ended with her hands clasped together in front of her and a pout as the icing on the cake.

Under his helmet, Jax had a deadpan expression, but he knew he had no chance of saying of no by himself. It was pretty much like facing the Gorgons. Once they caught an intruder in their gaze, the target would be forever doomed. Even Jiro admitted he would have a hard time saying no to the girl and he was just a star-shaped construct.

Well, it still didn't prevent him from having emotions.

The Hunter turned his helmet to Qrow, who only shrugged back with an expression of 'You're own your own, pal'. Jax frowned in response with his own face under the helmet that said 'Thanks a lot' and a short exhale.

"Fine." He sighed, much to everyone else's (especially Ruby's) delight. "But if word gets out about this, I'm keeping this helmet on at all times after that."

Ruby nodded her head with a bright smile, along with the others. Jax simply pulled back his hood and and took off his helmet revealing his facial appearance to the others. As a result, Jaune and Ren looked on in interest, while Nora and Ruby were practically squeeing.

As for Pyrrha, she already caught sight of Jax's face, but it was nice to see his somewhat easygoing expression and vibe again considering the current circumstances.

"What? Were you expecting me to have some kind of beard and mustache to go along with this?" Jax asked, pointing to his face.

"Nope." Ruby answered expectantly.

"I kinda did expected you to be taller, with a lower voice." Nora added with a shrug, much to Ren's (and Jax's) slight annoyance.

"We talked about this Nora." Her friend commented.

"So? Whatever happened to hoping for the best?" She still stuck to her argument.

The sound of Jax clearing his throat again caught their attention. "Are you done yet?" Both nodded their heads, now waiting patiently for their savior to answer Jaune's previous question.

The Hunter, looking to the travellers, started. "Now as I was trying to say, the reason why I've been following you is because it's pretty much my general oath of protecting other people. Not owing to the fact that I'm bored and in need of a new adventure. It's the same motive to Qrow tailing all of you. With things getting even worse, more people are getting into more danger, and I can't be in multiple places at once. There's only one of me." A short pause followed.

He turned his eye contact to Jaune. "To answer the second part of your question, looking for relics and treasures is part of my job. However it's like I said before, humanity's safety comes first before I do that, even if it falls to protecting a small group such as yourselves. And especially if the lot of us holds the key to our survival." At that part, Ruby turned her gaze downward to the ground. "Besides, these relics are built around the Huntsmen Academies and there's no telling how much trouble I'd have to go through to find even one of them without causing some suspicion whether if it's for our allies or enemies. It's no use chasing around what you can't find or get. If the power these relics hold are as powerful as Qrow told me before you guys, then we need to decide our next move carefully. We're virtually playing a huge game of chess where our enemy is already four steps ahead of us. Their moves have been executed flawlessly to the point of where they'll win this indefinitely if we're not careful enough. So I'm gonna say the same thing that Qrow might've said if he already hasn't. We must be rational in what actions we take."

A wave of silence passed the group when the Hunter finished, until Ruby broke it. "What should we do?"

The question was expected, but it caught the Hunter off-guard at the same time. There were some moments where he would implement a battle plan in order to win a battle whether it be in the Crucible or against Earth's enemies. He thought for sure Qrow would've answered that question.

Then again, he did say he placed his trust in someone of whom was a higher authority.

The Hunter turned his head Qrow's way. "You never gave them any ideas didn't you?"

The huntsman only shrugged in response. "Nope, but I'd like to hear one."

Jax only sighed before answering. "Right now, the only thing we can do is see how far down this rabbit hole goes."

It was a straightforward and practical answer, but nobody seemed to like it given their expressions and uncomfortable body language throughout.

"That's it?" Jaune asked. "We just keep fighting ourselves to the bone? Not even a complex plan to even just hurt the White Fang?"

Jax crossed his arms on top of his legs. "Listen, I know how you all feel about this. I had the same thoughts you did, but I'm not the best big battle strategist. It's the only option we've got so far until we can come up with an actual plan to hinder Salem's plot in her quest to destroy humanity. Until we're able to get actual backup, we'd just be shooting ourselves in our feet rather than doing any good." The Hunter explained patiently. "If that's not good enough still, I'm open to any other suggestions."

More silence followed thereafter, but this time Pyrrha broke it. "Jax…" Everyone, including the Guardian himself, turned their attention to the gladiator. "I know what we're about to do is crazy and it might seem that we're just fighting with our eyes closed, but I'll follow through with whatever plans that will keep us fighting and I won't hesitate to lay down my life for safety of everyone else." Her eyes gleamed with determination and renewed fire.

Jax grinned back. "That's good to hear. But you might wanna leave that to Qrow seeing he has more of an eyesight of what's happening here. My battle plan so far is that just eliminate everyone until Salem's all that left."

Qrow chuckled in response. "I had the something along those lines too with possible interrogation to get information on where we can find the relics before Salem."

"See? He has somewhat more of a plan than me." Jax pointed at him for a moment. "Even if it's a little too general." Qrow hmph'ed to himself before getting up and clutching his side and started to walk away from the campfire.

"Where are you going?" Ren asked him.

The veteran huntsman stopped before turning back to and answered. "Taking a walk."

Ruby gave one final question to her uncle. "There's nothing else you wanna tell us?"

Qrow stopped walking and paused for moment. He looked toward the crow that perched itself on the branch shortly after before gazing back to the ground. "Not tonight." And with that, he continued down his path just as a log from the campfire fell out and Ruby continued to look at her uncle with sorrow.

Jax also couldn't help but feel the same dolor for the huntsman as he gained some distance. Despite his jovial personality at times, he too had his moments when it felt as though he was less than worthless when it came to the Guardians (and their Ghosts) lives' he failed to preserve and rescue in the ongoing battles against the Darkness. However, the thought of someone having to distance himself because of powers which went beyond their control never crossed the Hunter's mind. There were times when Guardians' Supers were a _little_ too destructive, but it would never harm their teammates in the process of unleashing their powers whatsoever.

Well, at least when it came to going against humanity's enemies since Guardians took their shots carefully. The Crucible was a completely different story.

Deciding he needed his own time to rekindle, the Hunter arose from his spot around the campfire and informed the group. "I'm… gonna go for a walk as well… but down my own path to get some... fresh air." He addressed awkwardly before he walked down a narrow pathway which would lead to an open spot in the forest which wasn't too far from the camping spot.

"B-b-but wait! We still have more questions regarding you." Jaune called to the Hunter as he was gaining distance.

"Oh, I know. That's why I'm leaving." Jax chuckled a bit, not even sparing a glance backwards to the group.

 **(A/N: :/ Hm… kind of a jerk move on his part don'cha think?)**

Pyrrha watched Jax gained distance away from the group. She too had the feeling that Jax was also dealing with problems of his own. Still as Jaune said before, she had more questions she wanted to ask him regarding his true identity and if there were more people like him that could teach her and possibly her teammates into becoming more than what they were at the moment.

However, now was the time for recovery from today's events and preparation for the next day's imminent struggles.

* * *

 _Tower, The Last City_

"Now, you're probably wondering why I called both of you here to this super important meeting that I thought of-"

"You mean why _we_ called them here and the plan _we_ thought of, Cayde."

Ki'lera and Jethor both stood attentively as Warlock Vanguard Ikora Rey corrected fellow Hunter Vanguard (and Exo who would kill other Guardians who aren't willing to go out in battle) Cayde-6 as both leaders were about to address Fireteam Ingin's next mission which would ultimately contribute to the new planet which they had discovered.

Cayde only sighed and shook his head. "Fine. _We_ called you here." He then scooted closer to the two fireteam members to whisper hurriedly. "Still totally _my_ idea."

Ikora cleared her throat loudly enough for the Exo to hear and acknowledge she was nowhere near deaf also very attentive to the environment around her. On top of that, a calm glare directed toward the Hunter leader.

Deciding to not let his ego spiral out of control which would result in some… injuries, Cayde resumed. "As we were saying, the reason we were calling you here was because we just received some new information that you might find interesting. So, in other words, good news."

"What kind of good news?" Ki'lera asked, wanting to get to the chase and barely holding back her patience. She wasn't one for standing around when there were enemies that needed to be dealt with.

Typical blood-knight personality.

This time, Ikora took over. "Intel retrieved thus far regarding the new planet we had discovered shortly after your deployment to Phobos. Codename: Remnant." A holographic image of the planet was then displayed on the table with vital points marked. "According to what the Cabal have gathered, they had been able to detect an abundance of resources and technologies on this planet. A possible lost Golden Age colony, if you will."

"But of course, that wasn't the only thing that's intriguing about this. It seems that the Cabal are also getting wiser when it comes to extermination. We've also intercepted some of their scans which show they were also able to detect to a faint distress signal laced with a Guardian serial coding and signature on that planet." Cayde informed.

The last part stood out for both Ki'lera and Jethor. A Vanguard signal that far off on the new planet was a little strange. How did a Guardian crash so far off outside the solar system? Did they have a warp drive malfunction in that instance? There were so many possibilities running through Jethor's head in that moment.

However, the pieces started coming together for Ki'lera all too quickly.

"Cayde, Ikora, do you think that the serial number and signature matches one of our own?" The Titan questioned seriously.

"We've ran it through a bunch of times through our coding databases and there's no mistaking this particular marking." The Hunter Vanguard answered. He noticed the slight surprise on Ki'lera's face.

And so did Ikora apparently since she spoke up next. "But I would not get your hopes too high. For all we know, Jax and Jiro could be dead already."

"Not so. Jax isn't so much the dying type from what we've seen." Jethor argued. "You've seen how he's contributed from the destruction of the Black Garden up until now. He's helped us lead to an age of hope of prosperity."

As much as Ikora did not want to admit it, but her fellow scholar-warrior had a point. Almost every time, she would see Jax come back and always have something to tell Cayde whether it be an achievement, a weapon he received, a made-up story, or even something pertaining toward various noodle incidents like the time one of the female Guardians got wise, snuck into his quarters and... well, next thing that happened was the Huntress was mixed up in the weapons delivery system.

Needless to say, she's trying to recover from that… event. Not even the jovial Hunter Vanguard bothered to touch the door.

"Even the best meet their match from time to time." The Warlock Vanguard sighed. "I will admit he has many deeds which accommodate to his already sufficient battle record. However, that does not mean he could be very much alive."

"He's one of our top Hunters. It's not like him to just stay in one place for this long and wait for us to contact him back. He knows better than that." Cayde argued then gestured to the Warlock Vanguard. "You said so yourself Ikora about the lost colony. He could've taken shelter there."

"The possibility does exist, but it's not a guarantee." Ikora stated.

"Either way, we have to look into this, find out about Jax's true whereabouts, and make contact with whoever's on that planet." Ki'lera said with determination.

"Agreed." Ikora nodded her head, very much appreciating the Titan's ability to take charge within a heartbeat. "With the majority of our fireteams keeping the Fallen, Hive, Vex, Cabal, Taken, and even the Splicers in check at the moment, there is a limited amount of Guardians we can assign and trust on this mission. But I believe the fireteam standing right before us is ready for our first reach beyond the system."

Ki'lera and Jethor both had many thoughts running through each of their minds about what powerful enemies they would encounter, the possible resources on this planet, and how the locals would greet them. Still, one thing was for sure Jax was on this unknown planet called Remnant and something had to be done fast.

Whether if he was dead or alive, conflict would most likely be inevitable.

"We won't let you down Ikora and Cayde. We'll find out if Jax is alive and gather more information on this planet." Ki'lera said with determination.

"Good, but be careful. There's no telling what you could be facing over there and how the locals might react." Cayde advised. "You'll to have keep a low profile." He stopped and thought for a moment. "Well, the lowest profile you can just as long as it doesn't end with someone's spine as their tongue. Not that I'm spitting out any names or anything..."

The last part was directed toward a certain armored Guardian as one of their teammates turned to look at her.

"He was asking for it when he said 'lollipop'." Ki'lera mumbled stubbornly under her breath with a glare, still embarrassed from last month's… encounter.

"He was naming his custom weapon 'Lollipop'. Not flirting with you." Jethor-4 corrected. He let the incident sink in for a moment. "I'm amazed that he has an addiction for giving his own weapons all sorts of names."

"Let's just be glad not all of our Guardians aren't like that or we'd be in serious trouble." Ki'lera stated.

Ikora cleared her throat to get everyone back on the subject. "If there are no other comments, then I suggest you deploy immediately, scout the land of this planet, and start investigating your teammate's whereabouts. We shall be in contact with you on your mission."

Cayde laughed for a second until he realized what Ikora said. "Heh, heh, h-wait. What?"

"Yes, ma'am." Both Awoken and Exo chorused. With that, they started heading out the Hall of Guardians and through the Plaza to get clearance to leave the Tower.

* * *

"So… uh… Remnant, huh?"

"You're _not_ leaving this Tower, Cayde."

Said Exo sighed in annoyance and muttered under his breath. "Figures."

* * *

And meanwhile as their exchange was over, the two members of Fireteam Ingin were conversation amongst themselves.

"I hope this mission turns out to be something more than useful for a change." Ki'lera started the conversation between her and Jethor.

"I'm sure we'll find Jax and some monumental discoveries. After all, you could say that it's just a lost _remnant_ of the Golden Age." Jethor (didn't really) quipped.

 **(Author: :-( Annnnd my heart just cried…)**

Just as the Exo showed as much glee as he could, the Awoken returned a violent death glare his direction as silence filled, beside the various conversations other Guardians were having in the background.

"You better be glad I'm _very_ worried about Jax right now. If I wasn't, I'd throw you off this tower." Ki'lera growled with much malevolence. The only she hated more than the Darkness was terrible wordplay.

And as if it heard her, the Tower P.A. came on…

" _Guardians, this is a new round announcements: a bad pun is no excuse for throwing fellow Guardians off the Tower r doing any other sociopathic thing. Even if they're deliberately stupid ones. Have a nice day!"_

Ki'lera looked at the Tower P.A. (wherever it was) in disbelief, while Jethor could put on the best trolling smile he could. After a minute, Ki'lera groaned loudly and angrily as put her arms in the air in exasperation whilst muttering to herself that it'll only be for a short time hopefully.

Jethor's ghost decided to come out and acknowledge the situation.

"You know if you keep being smart like that, she'll be the multiple deaths of you one day." Osias stated.

"True, but she always pulls through in the end and sends an apology letter after sending someone in the hospital for bad jokes." Jethor said. "That and I've made a pact with Jax if anything were to happen to him. I'll secretly tell him that I've been trolling her in his place."

Osias just sighed and shook himself. "I may never know how you two tease her like that and not get at least punched out of the building."

* * *

 _Oniyuri Forest Campsite, Daybreak_

Morning came past in the blink of an eye.

The group was sleeping in their respective comfortable positions, except for Jax who was already up and about ready to get to the next stop which was Mistral. He was a Hunter, one who relished and belonged to the wilds. However, he did miss the feeling of social interaction and sense of security among other people, even it did seem naive to them. With him and Qrow now reunited with Ruby and her friends, events seemed to be looking up.

But as the sun rose from the east and the sky got brighter, things were still about to get darker for the traveling fighters.

"Rise and shine, everyone." Jax sing-songed to the group. Everyone who heard his voice arose from their sleeping bags and stretched for a bit.

Pyrrha seemed to notice the Hunter's optimism on his face. "So, I take you're a morning person?"

"Yup, depending on how much sleep I get." Jax nodded his head as he stretched. "I haven't slept that good since I was practically ordered to stop going through excessive training exercises in one day and get some rest."

The gladiator returned a concerned expression. "You don't get much rest do you?"

The Hunter shrugged with a smile on his face. "No rest for the wicked either." The answer still perplexed Pyrrha, but it satisfied her nonetheless.

"We should probably get moving." Ren stated.

Jaune agreed. "Yeah, yeah."

The sound of coughing caught everyone's attention. It soon became more worse with each passing second as everyone turned to Qrow who was sitting upright on the base of a tree. Ruby quickly got up and went at her uncle's side with Jax lagging not too far behind. Upon getting closer, the Hunter could make out purple straining on the Huntsman bandage. Qrow pulled away his hand and revealed purple staining on top of it much to Ruby's shock as she widened her eyes and gasped upon sight.

" _ **Uh-oh. This is worse than we thought."**_ Jiro said through the psychic link to Jax.

"Well… that's unfortunate." Qrow groaned before he passed out from the effects.

Just great...


	5. Author's Note: Important Notice

**Hey, everyone.**

 **Project Spekterz here to bring you an important update on this story.**

 **Well, more like announcement. It's bad news for all you readers, but there is some good news.**

 **First of all, I've decided to cancel this story.**

 **I'm truly sorry to give you this update through the chapters of when I said I'd make a transition into Destiny 2 with this story, but I've found myself biting off a little bit more than I can chew. Plus, I've thought about it for a while that if I start this narrative right after Destiny 2's opening story mission it'll be a bit more interesting in context. Not to mention, I've realized that Jax's character seems a bit flat and righteous than it already seems for me to develop him into a somewhat lighthearted personality that would be fitting for him (at least for a Hunter).**

 **With that in mind, the beginning of this rewrite will start right after the first story from Destiny 2 and somewhere near the beginning of RWBY Volume 3 before the attack on Vale and will go on from there. The rewrite of this story will be labeled as soon as its posted.**

 **Another reason why I've decided to cancel this story is because the full release of Destiny 2 will be in about 9 days from now and I'm gonna all over that no doubt just for kicks and giggles. Still, I will be developing ideas on how I will make this fit into the overall narrative.**

 **All in all, The story will be left as it is and still be up for viewing. The rewrite will be coming as soon after (don't know when my action date will be; I'm aiming for two to five weeks after release) the game fully releases and the narrative will be slightly different. However, some things will still be left the same (i.e. Pyrrha being left alive) and other events might be different. Which ones exactly will be alternate to the canon is still a mystery, but things will work as soon after Destiny 2 is released.**

 **I'd like to thank you for all the support and reviews that you have given me to help with the story and I'll be back with a rewrite and new narrative of the story.**

 **As always and I will see again soon in the next story.**

 **See ya!**


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